Category Archives: Blog

Blog

The Philippines allows you to do Anything – Including Screw Up!

16 Comments

Both before I moved here and since, it always struck me as odd watching guys fail in the Philippines. I mean you’re given nearly everything here, how is it possible to fail? Let’s count the potential benefits, shall we. An inexpensive cost of living, so that even retirees on small pensions can more than survive. Cheap entertainment. Sun, sand, ocean and more islands than you can ever explore. Friendly people. Very friendly women. A laissez faire attitude toward most things, including most things legal.

And then it occurred to me that the very options we are given here are themselves the reasons for failure. Having options in life is wonderful but sometimes they’re a pain in the ass.

The retiree who can barely pay his rent in his own country, now can use his new found wealth to get into a bit of trouble. In his own country he’s considered nearly a bum; here he’s considered rich, with all the plusses and minuses that entails.

Are you poor at managing money? In your native country there’s enough social services to survive. Here if you piss away your cash, you’re out on the street.

The guy who likes a couple beers at night can now afford a 6-pack (to chase down his Tanduay). The guy who smokes a pack a day is up to two; cigarettes are dirt cheap. In other words alcohol and smoking addiction among expats is huge here.

The guy who used to drive a motorcycle in his youth or maybe had one for the occasional weekend trip now can ride a bike to his heart’s content; and tear his ass up in the process. The guy who always resented “the man” for his Western rules and regulations can throw his helmet aside here. Not many others (Filipino or expat) in Dumaguete wear them.

Even when you have great health, you cannot feel absolutely safe. viagra 25mg online Below are some common contributing factors for male sexual dropdown due to reduced male sexual hormone- Increasing fat in abdominal cialis without rx area- Though the reasons are yet not cleared but if male abdominal area has more fat, it can turn into a serious health concern. Usually, person is asked to initiate with 100mg first and viagra sales in india gradually proceeding above that if required. This unique holistic method is completely drug- free, and won’t need highly-priced surgical treatment which is the active ingredient of Kamagra, makes it so easy. online levitra prescription appalachianmagazine.com

Are you a lousy driver? This ain’t the place to drive. Are you an excellent driver? Expect your perfect record to not remain perfect.

Women probably are the biggest benefit and the biggest pitfall in the Philippines. Marry her, live with her, just date, just date five girls, date a different girl every week, don’t even bother dating. You can do it all, but each option has its possible disasters. Because of the options guys actual think when it comes to women in the Philippines, “I can do whatever I want.” Yeah that’ll work. I’m married; let’s ask Janet what she thinks of that 🙂

I could go on and on but you get the idea. While getting ready to retire and move to the Philippines, if you’re like me you’re making that list of all the benefits of moving here. And all those benefits are real and true. But let’s remember our high school physics; for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. IOW, every benefit can cause an equal and opposite disaster.

And one more thing. Guys move to the Philippines to reduce the stress of their Western lives and it is true there can be less stress here. That is unless you’re building your own house!

Blog

A Tale of Two ER Trips

3 Comments

A few years ago while in Portland, Janet was sick with a strong case of the flu. Lots of coughing and fever. As always she took it in stride with good humour. But one night she announced that she’d coughed up a bit of blood. “Then we’re going to the ER,” I said. Janet resisted but I insisted and off we went.

I’d never in my life been to the ER and it was an interesting experience. About 20 people were in the waiting room. We filled out lots of forms and it was quickly apparent that we were probably the only people there who were on a paying basic (had our own insurance).

Janet waited 4 hours to see a doctor. They did draw blood while we waited. By now she was a little scared. There were TVs in the waiting room and it was the night of the 2016 election and I got to watch all the CNN guys grow more and more panicked. I love watching pundits squirm.

Eventually Janet saw the doctor and he said her blood work was fine and she had the flu. He wrote a couple of prescriptions and off we went.

A couple weeks later I got the bill – $1700. My insurance company did pay most of it but I was on the hook for about $500. I thought, ‘this is the beauty of the American medical system – the finest in the world – $1700 to diagnose the flu!’

A few days ago I got a pretty strong bug here in Dumaguete. High fever and body aches. Janet asked if I wanted to go the ER and I said no; it was just the flu. But by the 2nd night my fever hit 103 and I got a little scared. I haven’t had a fever that high since I was a kid. So at 10:30 off we went to the ER.

We arrived at Holy Child Hospital ER in downtown Dumaguete. There were no throngs in the waiting room; there was only one patient ahead of me. Within a couple minutes a nurse had taken my temp and BP. Within a few more minutes the doctor came over. He was appropriately surly as I would expect a competent doctor to be. He asked a few questions and then ordered some blood work. In the Philippines high fever means to test for Dengue Fever so that was one of the ordered tests. The nurse asked for 2300 pesos ($40) for the tests, which Janet paid.

We were directed to the lab in the building next door. Again there was only one patient ahead of me and they quickly and professionally took my blood and told us to come back in an hour. They were prompt and an hour later we had the results and returned to the ER.

Even if they don’t have messiahs like Jesus levitra uk to save dysfunctional families or broken marriages, they must have the peace and courage within. There are lots of factors that are responsible for maintaining a healthy relationship with your partner is like being in a cocoon of super viagra for sale comfort, insulated from all sides from the constant hardships and toil that life often provides. He cannot envision himself revealing this problem to another man, or even buy viagra samples worse, to a woman. Some of the common side effects include- dizziness headacheincreased blood pressure nauseashort breathing According to a study, millions of viagra prices online males across the world experience erectile dysfunction occasionally then it is not really uncommon.

“Your Dengue test is negative,” the doctor said and I breathed a sigh of relief. Dengue can be a very unpleasant experience and takes lots of time to recover from and let’s face it, I’m not a kid. The doctor added, “It’s probably the flu. You could come back tomorrow for a urine and stool sample, in case it’s a UTI.” He wrote a couple prescriptions including one for a pain reliever that I recognised as common in the Philippines. The Ugly American kicked in. “I’m taking Advil. Is this better than Advil?” He replied to the idiot kano, “Advil’s better for pain. This is better for fever reduction.” Case closed.

The nurse asked for 900 pesos ($18) for the ER visit and we were on our way. The next day we got the two prescriptions filled for $3.

I’m on the mend now and hopefully will be fully recovered for Valentines Day. Janet deserves a nice one.

You can come to your own conclusions about the difference between a $1700 and a $58 diagnosis of the flu.

Post Script: Here’s a humorous side note. In addition to the high fever and body aches I had a strong case of diarrhea. I didn’t have my reading glasses with me and didn’t want to make a mistake with a medicine bottle so the next morning I asked Janet if she’d get me the anti-diarreal meds. She grabbed two and some water and brought them to me and I quickly downed both. She suddenly spurted out. “OMG. I gave you the wrong medicine!” “What did you give me?” “Laxatives!”

It’s been an active day 🙂

Blog

I’M Here – You don’t need to Follow :)

10 Comments

It’s deja vu all over again. 44 years ago I moved to Portland, Oregon. At the time Portland was a hot bed, a hub. Young people from all over the US were moving there. Middle aged Californians were selling their overpriced houses and with the profit, buying a Portland house with cash. It was a flood of humanity that everyone assumed would end – but it never did.

The first few years I was there I assumed I would move “back home.” Back home was the East Coast. But after 2 or 3 years in Portland I stopped thinking about moving “back home.” In fact an interesting thing happened; after those 2 or 3 years I started thinking of Portland as “home.”

The next step was even more interesting. I started to resent the throngs that kept moving to Portland, ruining “our home.” In the 70s there was a popular bumper sticker in Oregon that read, “Don’t Californicate Oregon,” and I was a big proponent of that philosophy. I had my Oregon dream; the rest of you could go somewhere else (hell, came to mind).

So what does this all have to do with Dumaguete and Valencia where we now live. About a week ago were were waiting for the ferry to take us from Cebu back “home” to Dumaguete. We were tired and wanted to get home. The port was mobbed and Janet was told that one ferry was broken and so the other ferry was taking people back and forth and therefore we had to wait for the next trip. The wait would easily be an hour. I looked around at my fellow waiters – and sneered. There were back packers all over. What the hell do backpackers want to come to Dumaguete for, I wondered. There aren’t any white sand beaches where a backpacker can pitch a tent. The place, while not expensive, is not a cheap backpacker haven. And Filipinos here are pretty cleanly and even use deodorant. So what the hell are backpackers doing coming to spoil my lovely little city?

And then I spied a group of Chinese tourists. Each wheeled a piece of luggage the size of a small boat. Why would they leave the more metropolitan Cebu for our sleepy little city? Again no white sand beaches to sun bathe on. There’s not even a decent Chinese restaurant; no offence to one of our faves, Chin Loong, which can’t decide whether it’s a Chinese or Filipino restaurant.

A lot has generic levitra continue reading now been said about appearance in literature. Day’s passed, tadalafil tab Micheal’s health condition was deteriorating everyday. This is not cancerous cheap viagra and involves a non-malignant enlargement. The herbs that are used in the formulation of the oil becomes evident very soon when Mast Mood oil is used as per the directions mentioned on the license. cialis viagra generico

They all loaded on the ferry and those of us without a ticket (waiting for the next ferry run) watched them sail away. Again I sneered. I’m usually a fairly nice guy but I imagined the ferry in those choppy waters, might well, sink. Then I amended my fantasy. I didn’t want to see anything bad happen to my fellow residents of Dumaguete. Perhaps, I thought, the ferry could sink only on the side carrying the backpackers and tourists.

And then I realised it was official; Dumaguete was our home. We made it here, we are settled here and building a house. I suppose the expats that were already here when we arrived a year and a half ago can stay. But for anyone new? The place it a shithole and you don’t want to come. Stay away! You have been warned.

Now just as with Portland 44 years ago I know my fantasy will not happen. How could it, when magazines and websites declare Dumaguete to be the best place to retire in the Philippines. They should check out Portland, Oregon. I hear it’s a pretty nice place to retire.

I’m not a bad person – really I’m not. But perhaps those magazine and website writers could take a ferry ride and have just a little accident.

Blog

We “Poisoned” Our Workers :)

6 Comments

It was the beginning of November and our house (or at least the wall) was being built. Janet and I discussed what if anything we should do for our crew for Christmas.

I asked the question, “Should we give them a little cash?” Other suggestions included a bag of simple groceries. Janet proposed that she cook them lunch.

As the date approached we confirmed with our contractor that we would provide lunch for the crew on Friday December 21st. At the same time our friend, Kevin, was having construction done on his lot using the same contractor. In fact it was he who recommended his contractor, Romil, to us. I asked him what if anything he was intending to do for his crew for Christmas. A bag of food – rice and canned goods was his response. We both agreed that food was probably wiser than giving out cash. We then agreed to combine the crews and have the shindig on our lot.

I asked our contractor, Romil, how many we should expect and was surprised that the answer was 30. Romil explained that many of the crew work 3-4 days a week and so while we rarely see 15 men working, all told between the two crews, the grand total was 30.

Janet knew that her youngest sister, Miaca, would be with us the week before Christmas, as well as two young nieces, Hannah, and Juliana. So it was agreed that our girls would prepare the meal, while Kevin would handle the food bags.

Now what to feed the crew? Menu planning is practically a sport in the Philippines. You’re not just going into the supermarket and grabbing whatever is on sale. OK, that’s what I would do but not Janet and not any other Filipina around here.

After much discussion, Janet decided that the girls would prepare a pork and vegetable dish, we would buy a bunch of lechon manoks (chicken) from the largest retail seller of such chickens around, and then each worker would get a large serving of rice and a Coke Sakto. There’s been lots of debate on the Philippines forum I frequent about the meaning of the word sakto. Janet says it means “good enough.” The Coke Sakto size is I believe about 6 ounces. Now giving an American a 6 ounce drink at a party would at the very least lose you a friend for life, but here in the Philippines it’s an economical and reasonable thirst quencher for a snack or lunch. In short, it’s “good enough!”

I suggested to Janet that we go to the chicken place the day before and order the chickens to be picked up before lunch on Friday, The man there said, “I’m sorry but I cannot guarantee it.” He would not be working on Friday. “Can you call the guy who will be working on Friday?” “He can’t be reached,” I was told. “How about leaving him a note?” “Yes, but I can’t guarantee, Sir.” Perplexed, I looked for a solution. “When do you close tonight?” After being told they closed at 9:00 I asked whether he could prepare the chickens tonight and we would pick them up just before closing. The deal was made.

Intake of saw palmetto extract prevent the DHT production in the body and helps in promoting respiratory prescription for cialis functions. Thus the physician does not judge the rating of the medicine they start writing the medicine in the prescription cheap cialis of the victim patients. When there are compressed nerves, there is blockage in the transmission of nerves http://cute-n-tiny.com/tag/lapa/ super cialis professional to the different parts of mango tree are known to help in treating malaria. Well, sometimes the nerves or blood vessels that are part of ejaculation, and pelvic cancer surgery may result in damage or removal of nerves that contribute to headaches. viagra 100mg pfizer

At 8:30 we arrived. The chickens were cut, wrapped in aluminium foil and plastic and boxed up. Janet put them in the fridge when we got home. The next morning we heated up the pork dish Janet had made, as well as the chickens. We set up a small assembly line where Janet, the kids and I filled small lunch containers with pork, chicken and rice. In all we made 40 meals, packed everything into the car and drove to the work site.

A rudimentary table had already been set up for the food, which we laid out. At 12:00 the workers took their lunch break and fell in line to receive their lunches. They were very appreciative, equally so when they got their food gift bags from Kevin and his family.

We felt like we had done a really good thing for the hard working crew; well that is until late that night. Janet woke up in the middle of the night complaining of stomach pain. When I got up that morning I was told that she and two of the three girls had spent much of their night on the toilet.

Janet hadn’t eaten the pork so determined “it must have been the chicken.” Later I received a message from Kevin that much of the crew had stomach problems. He did not but he also had not eaten the chicken.

I felt fine and bragged about my cast iron stomach, since I had eaten a lot of the chicken. Unfortunately cast iron only lasts so long and a few hours later the bug hit me as well.

I messaged our contractor and apologised; he confirmed that he too had stomach problems.

At the end of the day, as we usually do, we visited our job site. The workers confirmed that they too had had problems. Janet thoughtfully had brought a few Immodium tablets and passed them out. What was unusual, though not unusual here in the Philippines, was that the men all were laughing and joking, had worked well that day, and continued to thank us for our efforts, despite having been “poisoned” by those efforts. In the U.S. they’d have already hired attorneys.

Blog

How Much Cash for a House in the Philippines?

5 Comments

Here’s an addendum to my interminable series, Why the Hell Would You Buy a Lot in the Philippines. The most common question I get asked is – how much?

Now, if you’ve followed this blog much you will notice that I try very hard not to talk specifics about money. I suppose it’s the generation in which I was raised, where you weren’t supposed to talk about money. When my son was a kid and even as a teenager, he frequently tried to find out how much I earned.  I never told him. He’s a young software/hardware engineer now and I suspect it won’t be long before he earns more than I ever did. I will continue not to tell him what I made – but now out of embarrassment!

But I understand why people are asking how much. Maybe you are considering building a house for your retirement in the Philippines, or a house for your wife’s family, or a shack on the beach. Maybe you already live here and are genuinely curious what it would cost. And maybe you’re looking for a loan from me lol!

While Janet and I still won’t be telling you exactly what we spent, I will try here to give you some details to help you make a determination of what it might cost you.

The overall theme here is that range of home costs are determined in ways not dissimilar from the way you might determine it in your home country. The old saying “location, location, location” applies to the Philippines, just as it does to your Western country.

Property: Everything is priced per square meter. I’ve seen lots in the provinces go for 200P/sq. meter and even less. I have also seen lots here in Valencia go for 6000P/sq. meter and more. The cost difference rationales are similar to your home countries. Factors include town or city, lot location, size of lot, beach property, overlooking property, and are the sellers desperate or not, etc.  Additional factors to consider include road location. We found a number of cheap lots in Valencia where there was no direct access to a road, but a contracted right of way. While these lots were invariably much cheaper, in the end we decided we had to have direct road access. So the conclusion is that you can get a cheap lot in the provinces with right of way access or a luxury beach front lot for big bucks.

House Construction: There are many variables here including size, construction style (native, Western or luxury Western), number of stories, and where you are building. Just as with the lot, house building is generally priced based on a price per square meter.  Construction ranges here from about 10k pesos/square meter – 25k pesos/square meter. I’ve known some guys who have done it for less than 10k, but assume that the houses at that price were very simple. Realistically in the Dumaguete area I would estimate 14k and up for a “foreigner home.” There are certainly luxury houses here over the 25k peso range but those probably include items I can’t imagine or high end Western fixtures and finishing.

When calculating the number of square meters for a house in the Philippines, understand that things like patios, balconies, car ports, etc. will be considered part of the total square meters here. In our case, the house we are building in Valencia is 180 square meters plus a 10 square meter balcony on the 2nd floor. So that equals 190 square meters of house. So don’t be surprised when the 180 sq. meter house you designed is priced based on over 200 sq. meters because you have a car port, balcony, etc.

When talking about a “foreigner” house the biggest cost factor (and possibly the biggest headache factor) may well be the finishing. Finishing work in the Philippines is generally considered everything but the actual structure. This means doors, windows, bathroom fixtures, kitchen fixtures and appliances, tile, paint, air conditioners, lighting, etc. The finishing work on a higher end “foreigner” house can be 50% of the project. So you can therefore save money or spend lots more depending on the type and quality of interior finishing you want.

One other factor is whether you hire a contractor or do the job yourself. As I’ve mentioned often, Janet functioned as her own contractor for the house in Alcoy but for our house in Valencia we have a contractor.

If you have a contractor, the finishing work is generally negotiated into the price, but we did interview one contractor who split the job between the basic building of the structure (which the contractor handled) and the finishing work (which the owner took care of). If the contractor is handling everything, you will want to be very specific about your requirements. Don’t expect him to understand that you need 3 AC units and all Moen fixtures.

Vailf tablets when taken can take effect within 16 minutes compared to viagra sale purchasing here which generally takes 30 minutes to one hour. A number of different factors can increase your risk of ED is 2.5 times greater if you’re obese and don’t exercise, compared to men who discount pfizer viagra aren’t. More and discount viagra cialis https://www.unica-web.com/archive/2019/general-assembly/Agenda%20GA_2019_EN.pdf more, there is a greater emphasis on ‘what’s in it for me” vs what I can do for others or what we as people can do together. Or it may be cheapest tadalafil 20mg other kidney problems, which can cause worse symptoms, such as numbness, tingling or weakness. In addition, many contractors do not factor inflation into the price. Therefore the contractor may come to you at some point in the project and tell you “concrete costs have gone up, therefore I need more money.” On the other hand some contractors will give you a fixed price quote, as in “the house will cost X amount, despite any cost increases.” That is in fact the type of contract we have for our Valencia house.

Also remember that there are some additional costs that either you will pay or that you may factor into your contract. These costs include blueprints and permitting costs. And of course most people in the Philippines want some sort of fence or wall surrounded their property and a gate to enter. This can add considerably to your cost, depending on the size of your lot.

There’s one other factor to mention, although I am reticent to do so. We all have different notions of what is acceptable housing. I know guys who brag about how inexpensive their house was to build or what a cheap rent they have. I go into the house, look around and think, “you couldn’t pay me to live here.” On the flip side I’ve seen 15-20 million peso mansions and I again shake my head. In short you have to know yourself well enough to know what is necessary for you to have, nice to have, or unnecessary and price and build a home accordingly.

So there you have it. The lot can cost nearly any price and so can the house. It’s the Philippines and you have many options.

BTW, I have been posting videos of the construction process in Valencia. For those interested in following the progress, you can see the videos starting here.

Addendum to the Addendum: While I covered some of the specifics of the two houses being built in other posts in the series, they aren’t here, so I thought I would capture them.

House #1 (Family house): Location – Alcoy, Cebu. Lot size – 500 sq. meters. House size – 70 sq. meters. 4 small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, small porch, 1 small kitchen. The family built a dirty kitchen outside the interior kitchen.

House #2 (Our House): Location – Valencia, Negros Oriental. Lot size – 1355 sq. meters. House size – 180 sq. meters + 10 sq. meter deck on 2nd floor (yes, it’s a 2 story house). 4 bedrooms (including master), 3 bathrooms (including master), living room, dining room, kitchen, sala area on 2nd floor. Concrete and iron wall around the perimeter of the property. In addition there will be a 20 sq. meter shop at the back of the property.

I should add that we agreed with our contractor that all fixtures and amenities should be purchasable in the Dumaguete area. This is significant because I know guys who used imported tiles, plumbing and fixtures. If you require all Western brands or the best there is, you have to realistically expect the price to go up – way up. Now, we will end up with nice tile, bathroom fixtures, etc. but I’m not expecting my contractor to pay for imported Italian marble lol.

2nd Addendum to the Addendum: For those genuinely interested or beginning the process of building a home who need more information or details, feel free to email me through the contact page on this blog or through Facebook, if we’re FB friends.

 

Blog

Why the Hell Would You Buy a Lot in the Philippines – Part 5

4 Comments

Here’s an update on the two lots we purchased in the Philippines! You can see the previous posts on this series here:

https://www.marriedafilipina.com/2018/07/why-the-hell-would-you-buy-property-in-the-philippines-part-1/

https://www.marriedafilipina.com/2018/07/why-the-hell-would-you-buy-a-lot-in-the-philippines-part-2/

https://www.marriedafilipina.com/2018/08/why-the-hell-would-you-want-to-buy-a-lot-in-the-philippines-part-3/

https://www.marriedafilipina.com/2018/08/why-the-hell-would-you-buy-a-lot-in-the-philippines-part-4/

The house that Janet built for her family in Alcoy, Cebu is complete! The project started about a year ago with the purchase of the lot. The building of the house itself took about 3 1/2-4 months, which is pretty damn good in the Philippines. As other blogs in this series detailed, Janet functioned as her own contractor, hiring an architect (mostly just a guy who drew up the blueprints), a foreman named “Boy” who hired and oversaw the crew. She purchased all the materials herself from the few sources available in the area, always complaining to me, “I could have gotten this cheaper in Dumaguete!”

As for me, I visited occasionally, inspecting the work and nodding wisely, as if I knew anything about construction, let alone construction in the Philippines. The Foreman, crew and Janet’s family acted as if I was the big cheese, despite the fact that I insisted that it was funded mostly by Janet. Members of the family worked very hard to assist the crew. Her father was there everyday, all the while still managing to work his farm. I have no idea how he does it; he’s not that much younger than me and I have barely enough energy in the day to go to the mall.

Janet’s brothers all pitched in and the sisters and kids worked every weekend. I mostly sat and watched and nodded approvingly.

Several brothers and sisters kicked in cash for some things that were not in the budget, like tile and bedroom doors and we really appreciated their efforts.

Yet still, our original budget turned up pretty short of the goal. Janet ended up kicking in some extra cash from her personal bank account. I managed to kick in some extra cash without touching our bank accounts which I was determined not to touch. I can make a snide remark about my heritage and upbringing but the truth is I have always been pretty good at this finding extra money business. And for all you wiseasses, the means I employed were completely legal!

The building process was frustrating. Janet went to Southern Cebu every weekend to inspect progress, meet with “Boy” and purchase the next week’s materials as instructed by Boy. Invariably his estimates were wrong. If he asked for 20 bags of cement, you could bet that by Wednesday, Janet was receiving a message that they needed another 10. Yells and curses would ensue. Finally Janet starting to leave a little cash with her mother for these weekly emergencies.

When it was all finally done Janet asked her mother how soon they would move in. “We can’t move in. There’s no kitchen.” “Of course there was a kitchen,” Janet replied, including a new gas cooktop donated by sister, Jonna. “But there’s no dirty kitchen,” a near necessity in the Philippines. So the men took up the task to build a dirty kitchen, behind the interior kitchen.

In the end the local Alcoy priest was brought in for a house blessing and a party was held, including two pigs that Janet had raised for just such an event. We think that at least 200 people were fed.

Greatest impact happens between 30 to 120 minutes of taking the generic anti-impotence medication is that it offers medications to the customers cheap cialis soft on the internet. They rejuvenate body cells and helps in regaining the lost energy, stamina and strength of person. buy cialis brand Improved sexual http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/pretty-kitten/ pills viagra stamina- This is what a chiropractic vet wants to unleash. Kamagra is best tadalafil prices available in packets containing total 100mg tablets. As a curious aside, Janet also asked the priest to bless our car, which he doused everywhere with holy water. The next morning we came out to see it had a flat tire. I made a sarcastic remark about “so much for the blessing,” but Janet insisted that the blessing caused the right thing to happen, since we didn’t have a blow out on the road.

To see a video of the house and blessing party, go here.

Now that we’ve gotten the Alcoy house out of the way, let’s talk about our house, in Valencia, Negros Oriental.

It’s taken about three months to prep the property, get the permits and build the wall around the perimeter. Now, while this isn’t quite the size of Trump’s wall, it’s a big wall surrounding a 1355 sq. meter property. The wall is roughly completed; the gate should be done soon. In the meantime the house has been laid out and the crew is struggling to dig the holes for the 16 concrete posts. I say struggling because the property is filled with huge rocks bordering on boulder size. Our contractor is considering renting a jack hammer to break up the rocks, an extreme measure for house construction in the Philippines.

The local power company visited the property this week and told the contractor he had to construct a permanent concrete pole for electricity. Everyone else in our area has falling apart temporary wooden poles (more like sticks) to hold up their power lines. But the crew is now building the steel reinforced concrete pole and hope to have the electricity installed early next week. We’ll see!

The estimate is that it will take three months to complete the basic concrete structure of the house, which would be about the end of February. Again, we’ll see.

In the meantime Janet gets to spend lots of time looking at tile and colors, and appliances, and all the things that go along with building a dream house.

Although I know nothing about home construction and construction in the Philippines I am having fun watching the process. For those who would like to see videos about the building process, please go to my vlog and subscribe: https://youtu.be/_OwI88GeZpo

 

 

 

 

 

Blog

Stinking Rich in the Philippines

7 Comments

It should come as no surprise that most Americans, Europeans, Australians, or UKians (sorry – I know that’s not a real word) – aka most white guys – aka most kanos, are considered rich in the Philippines. And the assumption is right. Even the guy who makes the proverbial $1000/month in a pension or Social Security check is by Philippines standards well into the middle class.

When I first met Janet’s family (just days after I’d first met Janet) I was seated in the family home explaining to 50 relatives, friends, neighbors, and hangers on, what Janet and I were planning to do with our vacation time together. Everyone knew this was serious stuff. I asked her parents whether they had any questions. Her father quietly asked (translated by Janet) what problems I foresaw since I was rich and Janet was poor. I tried to explain to him that by American standards I was not rich. I realized halfway through my diatribe that my rant was ridiculous. Of course I was rich. I had flown halfway around the world. I was carrying a camera, tablet, and iphone worth more than they could imagine. I gracefully got out of my soliloquy and just stated that I foresaw no problems.

Now that we live in the Philippines it’s no different. OK, I take that back. It’s a little different; now everyone thinks that Janet is rich too. The family says it, not as criticism or even as envy, but just as a statement of fact: “Uncle Dave and Yaya Janet are rich.”

After all, we have a car, and a new one at that. There’s no point in saying that if I drove my Ford into the parking lot where I formerly worked, loaded with Bimmers and Teslas, my little Ford would make me appear like I was borderline homeless.

I have found myself a time or two trying to explain to someone that by American standards we are not rich. Janet has told family members how high our bills were in the U.S. Looking back on it, such explanations seem silly. By the standards of where we now live – we are rich – stinking rich. I never thought I’d be able to say that in my lifetime.

What’s my point in all this? I have a few. First off, accept your “wealth” as a reality. I know several guys who kid themselves by saying, “They know I am not rich. I live simply and drive a motorcycle.” Nonsense – everyone still thinks you’re rich – just kuriput!

Another thing that I hear a lot of foreigners rail about is the fact that Filipinos don’t seem to know the difference between Americans, Europeans, Australians, and those Brits and often just lump us together as kanos, and non-Americans flip out. It’s not that they don’t know the differences; they don’t have any reason to care about the difference. Rich is rich. What difference does it make if you’re a rich American or rich Canadian?

Doing things right viagra brand 100mg in the beginning will boost your success later. The prolonged use of these products discount bulk viagra doesn’t have any side effect. All a few medication are in a lot of stress due to levitra online this. Not only men, but their partner who is caring and sensitive enough to take you to the best of their ability, they will need to make find out that pharmacy cheap viagra the right choice. And my final (and possibly most important) point is that overall, being considered rich is good. This is true the world over. A quick story. Back in the US I had the same bank for over 20 years. For about half that time I ran a small business. I rarely had enough in the account to even pay a month’s bills. The bank people were polite but no more. Years later, working for a higher paying job at a Fortune 500 and throwing all the money I could manage into my account in preparation for retirement – well let’s just say their attitude changed. They’d pull up my account, look at the balance and kowtow to me and Janet with more ass kissing skills than you’d expect bankers to have. Pretty soon the bank manager was our personal banker.

The same is true in the Philippines except the amount you have to transact anywhere to be viewed as rich is about 1/10th of what you’d have to do in the US. The Bank Manager here says hello when we come into the bank. She always remembers the last issue we spoke about and questions whether it got resolved for me.

When I go into a mall every Filipino (including Janet) is searched. They rarely do more than pat me on the ass; no comments on that! Now you might think that’s because I am Caucasian, American, and old. I think it’s more likely the false perception that I am rich and the notion that a rich old, white guy’s not a thief or terrorist.

Now contrary to constant complaints about the Philippines on a variety of forums, I get excellent service here. I’m not talking about the competence of those serving me, which can be hit and miss. I’m talking about the fact that 95% of the time, people want to help or take care of me. Of course, part of that is general Filipino friendliness, but part is the notion that they’re helping the rich kano.

Now I do my part as well. I’m polite, I try not to act like an Ugly American, I don’t condescend, and I do tip, if modestly.

I find nothing wrong with taking advantage of advantages you have in life. Hell, there’s enough things that I have going against me, that I might as well enjoy being perceived as different – and so should you!

 

Blog

Burglary in the Philippines

8 Comments

It took me a couple weeks to get up the energy and courage to write this:

It started off pretty funny. Janet and I spent the weekend in Southern Cebu. Now normally when we do this we take the ferry and bus, but in this case we drove our car, carrying a car load of stuff for the house Janet is building for her family. We returned to Valencia with two sisters and a niece in tow.

Arriving home the kids were hungry and thirsty. Janet went to the fridge. “Where’s the juice?” she asked. She reminded me she’d bought two cartons of juice the day before we left. I looked in the fridge. “Where’s my root beer?” I had bought 2 cans at the same time. “You must have left them in the cabinets,” I said.

“No I didn’t,” she insisted. I started looking through the cabinets positive I’d stumble onto the allegedly purloined refreshments.

“Someone was here,” she insisted.

“So, let me see what you’re telling me,” I responded giggling. “People broke into the house to steal our juice and root beer?” My SIL laughed.

But I knew the power of Janet’s inner antenna well enough that I started to look around. I entered the 3rd bedroom of our house; the one I use as my shop. I spied the window. It was open just a crack. I vividly remembered locking it before we left. “Oh uh.” I was no longer laughing at my wife.

Janet came out of our bedroom. “My necklace is gone.”

Normally we never leave cash around. But we had a little extra and didn’t want to be traveling with it, so we left it behind. Gone! By US standards it wasn’t much but by Philippines standards there were some happy burglars.

The burglars were the neatest, most meticulous thieves I’ve ever heard of. While it was evident they went though everything, they moved nothing. Had it not been for those missing juices we could have gone many hours before realizing we’d been robbed.

They took none of my tools. Actually I take that back; they took one ruler I use in guitar making. Who knows why that was the only thing of mine they grabbed.

Really, when it comes down to it, outside of the cash, they took very little. Besides the necklace, juice, root beer and cash, they took an unopened pack of toothpaste and unopened bars of soap. These were very clean burglars.

Piecing the whole thing together we determined that someone had noticed the car gone the first night and by the second night, decided to strike. They entered a rear window, prying the lock apart with a screwdriver. They even covered a light I had installed outside with a t-shirt conveniently left on the clothes line.

We went to our neighbors who are our landlords and then all of us proceeded to the Police Station. The police grilled my elderly landlord pretty good, assuming she had spare keys. At 75 she doesn’t look like much of a culprit but they were taking no chances. They wrote an extensive report and then several officers came with us to inspect the scene of the crime.

When it includes creating a diagnosis for grownup Asperger’s, there is considerably more scenario typically primarily since not plainly do the signs or signs ordinarily reduce, they might be substantially tougher to define. viagra on line cheap However, this kind of therapy will not be said canadian viagra for sale try my shop as it is not of high priced, the cost of the medicine is used for sexual problem, it should be taken with proper care. The 1999 study, for example, found that acupuncture improves the quality of erection https://www.unica-web.com/watch/2016/matador.html viagra prescription canada and restored sexual activity of participants at 39 percent. Most people say that it is really potent in viagra sale without prescription healing erectile dysfunction, a sexual disorder where an individual finds it difficult to get an erection or finds it difficult to hold it for a sufficient amount of time. We got to talking with one of the officers. Janet being Janet asked him how this could happen with the extensive efforts made to eliminate criminals and drug dealers in the Philippines. “They must be new ones,” the officer flatly stated. Why? “The old ones are all six feet under.” This was stated simply with only the slightest amount of braggadocio.

The police immediately noted the problem; no bars on the windows. When we rented the house, we knew this was its prime weakness. In the Philippines many property owners have bars on their windows, but our rental house did not. We told ourselves that the walls and gates were good, the doors were double locked, that having our landlord as next door neighbor was a good thing, and that in general it was a pretty nice neighborhood. But we always knew it was possible.

Now what to do about the future. Being a guy and a problem solver I contacted someone and asked if he knew a contractor who could install bars. The next morning that guy came over and measured all the windows. By the end of the day I had an estimate which sounded like a pretty good deal to me.

We told the elderly landlord (who is in fact the mother of the actual owner) that we needed bars to feel safe for the future. I hoped the owners (who live in the UK) would agree but had my doubts.

By the next day Janet was adamant that bars or no bars we had to move. I was still hoping for a solution and was more than willing to share the cost of the bars. Hell, truth be told I would have paid for the whole damn thing.

The next day the landlord came over and announced her son in law would not put bars in, since he didn’t want to spoil the view from the windows. I mumbled, “How’s the view gonna look with no tenants?” We stated we would be leaving and that September would be our last month and that since we’d already paid first and last month’s rent, there would be no more rent paid.

In the meantime we spent the day finding a new house. Our normal methodology is much more meticulous but in this case the first house we found that was gated and guarded made Janet happy. It’s not as nice by a long shot as our current house, but it’s not bad and the agent announced all the improvements that were being made. We said we’d return in a week and if the improvements were being done we would take the house.

By the next week even I was impressed. There were 2 new aircons, new shower heads, a new kitchen sink and a kitchen cabinet, since Janet kept wondering where she would put all our kitchen stuff. They’d put down cement on the tiny driveway and behind the house for the washing machine. There were new lights inside and out. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all; well except for having to move all our crap!

Several days after the robbery, the Barangay Police showed up; 5 of them. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. They looked over the entire property and gave us their phone numbers. They told us if we leave again for an extended period we can call them and they will keep an eye on the property. OK, I know this is no guarantee but it was nice to know the neighborhood tries to police itself.

At some point I sat down feeling a bit sorry for myself and counted the number of times I’d been robbed in my 65 years. If I count the time my parents were robbed when I was a teen, the number is now five. In that particular robbery in the 60s no one in our suburban neighborhood locked their doors or cars. Since the burglars simply walked in, I remember my father broke the glass door so the insurance would honor his claim. Needless to say from then on we locked the doors. It’s amazing how different the world was then or at least our perception of it was different.

In the meantime since we are about to build our own house, we decided to spend some more money upgrading the security of the original design. I’m considering a moat.

 

 

 

Blog

Individual Rights in the Philippines

6 Comments

I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago over beers. While the conversation wasn’t political (thank God) he did say what I already believe; that most American expats in the Philippines are of a more conservative bent.

There are a variety of reasons. Many guys first discovered the Philippines while serving in the military. So there’s a lot of ex-career military guys here and I suppose you can make the case that ex-career military guys are slightly right leaning and big fans of Atilla the Hun.

But the biggest reason seems to be an idea I hear often; that the U.S. (and other Western) governments have so restricted personal liberties that many of the expats here were looking to move to a place where they felt freer.

Thinking about it, I would have to say that most major issues plaguing the Western world do come down to the notion of individual rights vs. the rights of others. Do I have the right to own whatever I want in my own home (gun rights) vs. does society have the right to not get shot in the ass by your rights (gun control).

Do I have the right to do whatever I want with my own body (abortion rights) vs. society’s rights to force me to have the child and dump it into the social safety net.

Do I have the right to sleep with whomever I want in the privacy of my own bed vs. society’s need to know who we’re all sleeping with (and in the case of Filipinas) how young she is and how often we’re – you know, sleeping.

The list goes on but if we continue on this path we will eventually get to the most important individual right imaginable, and one that I get really hot over; do I have the right to burn leaves in my yard?

When I was a kid back in the 20s most people burned their leaves. I am sure there were laws in place but come on, they were just leaves; they weren’t a protected species. Some nuts said that burning leaves polluted the air, but that struck me as crazy since I always liked the smell of burning leaves. How could that be bad for you.

By the time I grew up enough to own my own home, leaf burning was completely verboten. I had the largest oak tree in my neighborhood. Every fall it dropped a ton of leaves; enough to fill 10-15 leaf bags full. We’d throw the bags into the garage and put them out with the recycling a bag or two at a time because you couldn’t put them all out at once without getting a big overcharge and I’m fundamentally a cheap bastard. Each year it occurred to me that an hour of burning and problem solved, but no – we had to save the goddamn environment as if leaves were the primary cause of lung cancer or something.

While there are laws on the books here in the Philippine, and the society is getting more serious about them, in reality people express their individual right to burn leaves, debris, trash, dead animals, or whatever. Janet loves gardening and gathers her clippings weekly into a small, neat pile to burn. Watching her do this I can’t help but think that it’s a hell of a lot easier than buying something to put the crap into, have a government agency waste gas to pick it all up, dump it all into a landfill where it will decompose and probably spontaneously combust.

Even doctors purchase sildenafil online say that over drinking can cause erectile dysfunction in turn ruining their sexual lives. People suffering from out of control allergies fall into viagra viagra the category of PDE-5 inhibitors. If at all you are looking for avoiding ED, simply cut out vices, live healthily, and learn how to purchase of levitra deal with a dysfunctional boss. Medicinal Cause- At times, sexual weakness samples viagra could be either psychological or physical or both. Back in my former U.S. home had I dared to light a match to a single leaf, neighbors would have gone ape, the fire department would have arrived, and I would have been called all sort of anti-Semitic names in the social media. So I did what was expected and horded my leaves.

I have to say that I like watching Janet burn the leaves. Just as when I was a kid, I like the smell and mostly like that I don’t have to rake up the shit. My back should be the protected species.

So, despite not being all that conservative, I do like the individual freedom in the Philippines. I’m a pretty quiet person but if I chose to make noise, play my guitar or the stereo loud – I can. Back in Portland, if I went into my yard and cut a loud fart, my neighbors would report me and I’d be arrested for noise pollution.

Back in Portland, if I went into my yard and cut a loud fart, my neighbors would report me and I’d be arrested for noise pollution.

So let’s review the individual freedoms we have in the Philippines. I can drive like a maniac. Not only can I drive that way, it’s expected. I can sing karaoke at 3:00AM. Yes, President Duterte says not to do that but even he’s not powerful enough to stop it.

I can burn the aforementioned trash, let my dog roam the countryside and crap wherever it wants, shoot off fireworks even without a holiday. Guys smoke here in public, despite the fact that Dumaguete is a smoke free city. Guys get hammered and stumble around town. I can sleep with whomever I want, and, you know, sleep as much as I want. OK, I can’t do this, since you know, I’m married and Janet is a bolo master, but theoretically a guy can do it 🙂

But there is a irony here that guys express often. Sure, we can come here and do whatever we want. But guess what – so can the next guy. So, your neighbor sings karaoke at 3:00AM, burns leaves and cuts loud farts. And some of these conservative, individual rights loving guys aren’t happy about it and complain to their Barangay Captain. I have no real conclusion but as I said, it’s an irony.

All these thoughts have come to a head recently as Janet and I bought a fairly large lot. Back in Portland the trend was for larger houses on much smaller lots. There were a lot of reasons for this trend including the rising costs of land but I think the real reason was the growing recognition of what was the point in having a nice big back yard when you couldn’t make noise, dance naked or burn shit there.

Here we’ll have a nice sized lot, I’ll have a workshop and in our walled yard we’ll be able to burn leaves, cut loud farts or dance naked as much as we want. Life is good in the Philippines!

 

Blog

How Much Does it Cost to Live in the Philippines – An Idiot’s Guide

7 Comments

Preface: You will have to determine whether the “idiot” I referenced in the title is me or my potential readership. It’s a close call 🙂

——————–

If you’re a Philippines blogger or vlogger one thing that is expected of you is to post a Cost of Living piece. I know guys who do it annually or even more often. Why? Because they know that all of you want to read it and it drives up their readership/viewership.

So, that’s why I’m doing it 🙂

Of course, unlike a YouTube vlogger, there is no income for my doing this; only the satisfaction in knowing that several hundred (sometimes several thousand) of you wasted five minutes of your important life on my dribble. Life is good!

I have seen or read dozens of such Cost of Philippines Living posts. Let me summarize my opinion for you: they are all unadulterated nonsense. So, I’ve just saved you time and as they say time is money. So, by all means send me some.

OK, back on point. Why are such postings normally BS? Imagine I were to ask an American, “How much does it cost to live in the United States?” He might answer, “How the hell do I know? Do you mean live in a small town in the South or the San Francisco Bay Area?” “Do you need to own a car and what kind?” “How’s your company’s medical insurance.” “How many girlfriends do you have and how many does your wife know about?”

Sorry, I got side tracked.

In short you can live in the U.S. for $15,000/year or less and yet others claim in all seriousness that they cannot live for under $150,000/year; and they are not kidding.

The same is true in the Philippines. Do you live in a condo in Makati or a nipa hut so deep in the provinces that carabaos are beginning to look very very good to you?

Do you drive a motorbike or car or are you happy with trikes and jeepneys? Do you drink San Miguel or Red Horse? OK, there’s no financial different between those two.

Do you have one girl or five? While logically 5 should mean a higher budget, one can sometimes be more expensive. In my case the one I have would kill the other 4, so for me 1 is cheaper.

I can hear you all murmuring now: how much, how much, how much. So let me give you a few Dumaguete details and later on tell you why I think the question of “how much it costs” is irrelevant.

Rent: In Dumaguete it’s easy to rent an apartment or house for between 10k – 15k pesos, sometimes even less. Alright, for the lazy unwilling to Google the exchange rate, that’s about $200-300/month. You can certainly spend lots more, but you don’t have to.

Food: If you like to cook and eat simply, it’s easy to eat for between $100-200/month. If, like Janet and I, you like restaurants, it is actually not that much more expensive; perhaps add $100 to the budget. Janet and I rarely spend over 500P ($10) for dinner for two and often spend closer to 300P. Therefore sometimes it’s easier to eat out rather than cook.

Exception 1: If you require your favorite Western brands, and/or a weekly Australian steak, your budget will go up considerably. I hear British and German friends talk about obtaining their fave homeland foods and how much it costs. I roll my eyes. As an American there are three McDonalds and a really good sub shop in Duma, so I’m all set for American haute cuisine!

Exception 2: Do you have those 5 girlfriends I mentioned above? Then you’re not only feeding the girls, which isn’t that bad (they’re all tiny and eat like birds) but you’re feeding their friends and anyone in the restaurant who claims to be a friend. Expect your food budget to go up considerably.

Utilities: In the U.S. my electric and gas bill combined for about $200/month. Here I spend between 2500-3000P ($50-60) for electricity and that includes running an aircon most of the day. Our fiber Internet is about 2000P ($40). Janet and I pay about 600P ($12) for phone service. Garbage pickup is free in Valencia. Our Valencia water bill (and I am not making this up) has never been over 50P ($1) and sometimes there’s been no bill for the month at all. Of course Valencia water is only on about 2/3 of the time, but I still giggle whenever I get the bill. They actually pay someone to hand deliver the bill and pay cashiers to take your payment. It’s clearly a big money maker.
Simple order levitra online appalachianmagazine.com: You can find versions regarding levitra you can purchase : they may be referred to as simple order levitra online or perhaps simple Tadalfil. levitra overnight delivery It is important to get a proper diagnosis and to find solutions to overcome the problem. It seems that Artem http://appalachianmagazine.com/category/featured/page/55/ generic viagra can collect the figures for the rest of his life. The upper nine ribs begin at the spinal column, curve around and are joined at the front of the chest area. viagra sans prescription appalachianmagazine.com
Vices: If you smoke, cigarettes are dirt cheap. If you like beer, local San Miguel and Red Horse cost about 40P.  In short you can become a chain smoker and raging alcoholic without breaking your budget. I gotta get on it!

If you have a more sophisticated drinking habit, you can get nearly anything here. Johnny Walker Black Label is (I kid you not) available in any 7-11. Apparently there are many expats throughout the Philippines who go into 7-11s and get a pack of smokes, a bag of M&Ms, and a bottle of Johnny Walker Black!

Transportation: Trikes and Jeepneys are ridiculously cheap here in Duma and go most everywhere. OTOH gas is more expensive than in the US, so since I have a car, that is an expense. But my insurance bill is about half of what I paid in the U.S.

Most expats here have motorbikes, not cars. A lot of guys have told me they don’t have insurance because when you’re 75 and fall off a bike the last thing you’re thinking of is, ‘Yeah, but at least I’m well insured.’

Medical: Your view on medical expenses in the Philippines will vary dependent upon whether you are from the United Staes or nearly any other civilized Western country. If you’re from the U.S., Philippines medical expenses will seem dirt cheap. A doctor or dentist appointment will be $10 or less. Hospitalization will seem quite reasonable. But, if you’re from one of those Civilized countries where medical care is free, you may find the cost in the Philippines to be expensive. After all nothing can beat free.

Last week I had a doctor’s appointment. The visit was 500P (under $10) but the procedure she was going to do cost. The doctor apologized profusely about the cost. I wasn’t sure why. Turns out she studied in Canada, where the procedure would have been free. I explained that in the U.S. it would not have been free – far from it – and by all means let’s do it. I was not unhappy with the total price.

So depending on your budget and whether you have any kind of medical insurance (including PhilHealth) you may at some point find yourself hit with some serious  medical bills.

——————–

So let’s get back to why I think all the other estimates on costs in the Philippines are so nonsensical. Because, folks, it’s the wrong question. Most of us are retired and on some sort of fixed income. So the question isn’t “How much does it cost to live in the Philippines?” The question ought to be, “How much do I have and what kind of life will that support in the Philippines.”

Let’s say your Social Security check is $1000/month. That’s what you have and that’s all you have. There’s no point in wondering how much condos cost in Makati. So, can you live here on $1k/month? In Dumaguete you can. Now you won’t be living high on the hog and you can only afford one girl (OK, maybe two if you’re frugal) but you can do it. If you have an income of $2k/month you can live very well.

If you have followed this blog you know that there is no way I will ever tell you how much Janet and I make or how much we have. What are we – idiots? But while it’s not a lot, we have enough to deny ourselves nothing, have some extra for travel, and Janet gets to eat lechon at least occasionally.

There’s another fault that I see guys make when calculating a budget. They only take into account their standard monthly bills: rent, utilities, food, gas, medical, etc.

I’m not just talking about major medical emergencies, which can be budget killers. I’m talking about normal shit that happens all the time, but when you worked you had enough extra to cover it: your phone dies, your car breaks down, you need new tires for your bike, you have to pay to extend your visa, you need to hire someone to clean your pool (ok, bad example).

If you’ve budgeted well you’ve added a pad to cover those life extras. If not, then pretty soon they eat into your monthly bills and that’s when you hear guys complain about how it’s really expensive in the Philippines. It’s not if you apply just a little bit of caution.