Best Posts

I was looking for a change of scenery and lifestyle, saw an article about retirement in the Philippines, did a bit of exploring, found Dumaguete and fell in love. I see all sorts of negative comments about various things but: The traffic - yes it's crazy but it sure beats the 29 sets of unco-ordinated traffic lights I had to go through from home to office in Sydney. The food: Where else can you buy great food, served to you, cheaper that you can cook it yourself: The People, gorgeous, friendly, non bitchy and - once accepted, surprisingly generous. The cleanliness: Every day I see people with very, very little and no expectation of ever getting much more, sweep their little dirt area until it's spotless and rows and rows of WHITE washing (how do they get them so white) hanging on lines or trees. Men working all day in the sweltering heat - what about those poor security guards at Robinsons in the sun in those awful outfits. All in all, I feel pretty privileged to have landed here

 

Wife and I had a similar experience as Chariot.
We also ordered the fish & chips, BIG MISTAKE.
The fish and the fish better was not cooked all the way. The chips, really french fries was served as WHITE me and as limply as my old, o-ten. We ordered Mayo on the side to dip the fries in. When we inquired as to why it was taking so long we were told that they had to send the cook to Hipper Mart to get the MAYO. When this sorry excuse of a dinner was served, it came with sides Salad dressing, not MAYO. Once I tasted the Salad dressing I spit it out. The cook showed me the jar of MAYO he had just got at Hipper Mart. The label on the jar clearly said "SALAD DRESSING"! We got up and walked out. That has to be the worst restaurant meal we had ever ordered. I do not think it is necessary to say that we will never be back to Sideways.
Went across the street to Flip Flops and had a well prepared tasty dinner.

 

What is intelligence?

To me, it's the ability to survive. Stupid is catastrophic failure. Anything beyond the ability to survive is just virtue signalling. It's boasting about how great you are. The sad truth is that a feeling of greatness is why a lot of foreigners are here. A crap pension in the U.S. with no love can become a dramatic boost in the Philippines. Your Philippines starter kit when you arrive is an upgrade in economic status and a girlfriend. Foreigners may not feel as privileged in Dumaguete as they once did, but they're still in a sort of alternate status reality where they aren't subject to the same rules. You get a hat tip and an exception from being dog**** as is typical of immigrants. If you came to the Philippines to get more bang for your buck, then why rub it in? Just chill and enjoy your blessings.

Stupid is the brilliant mathematicians, coders and wall street traders who blew up the economy in 2008. Smart is the Filipino polymath who can survive under the roughest conditions. Throw a super computer into the woods and it will immediately die. A stupid wild animal with no frontal lobes is an expert in survival.

Philippines society serves the Philippines just fine. The businesses which operate here serve to the locals. Foreigners do bring in money, but mostly to a tourist industry. The Philippines will change as the people here demand it. Foreigners won't move the needle on this. So then, we just b*tch and make foreigners look bad.

 

To compare Phuket with Dumagute is not fair.

Tourism in Phuket is very large and in Dumaguete very small.
Phuket International Airport operate about 60 different airlines around the clock and 30 flights per hour.
Only from China 32 destinations.
35.000 tourist visit Phuket every day.
With that number of tourist you get more shopping malls to visit.
Locals can’t support so many shopping malls

The small number of people paying income tax is a problem for Dumaguete, not money enough for new roads and mostly foreigner doesn’t pay tax as well.

Philippines are a poor country compared with Thailand. Only half the income per capita.

 

Although it may appear that everything in the garden is Rosy for me back home in UK, this is definitely not the case, especially since I am here on my own, the cost to run a House back here is hitting me hard, although my Hoose has 4 Beds and 2Baths it is quite compact and around 125M2 only, however it is well designed and has good insulation, 2 years ago, I was charged £200 a month for Council Tax, this includes water and sewage charge, plus street lighting and refuge collection, this has now risen to £240 then there was the energy cost which was £80 a month back then, this has now risen to £285, I do think there has been an over estimated charge going on here? and have since submitted meter readings to get this stabilised? above this rounded up figure of £525 I have expenses for WiFi, house insurance, boiler service, then there is house maintenance, plus the expense to run a Car which I hardly ever use, the cost to me per mile travelled likely cannot be justified? I'm not all that sure what this all amounts to but would guesstimate somewhere in the region of £750 per month? this is before I put food on my table, fortunately I do know my way around a Kitchen and can eat like a King and Drink like a Fish for very little money, I should mention I have become an Alcotech and make my own Beer at a cost of Pesos 20 per half litre and Wine at P100 a bottle.

There is one big advantage to living back in Scotland, all Medical care is completely free for us and that includes Prescriptions and Eye Tests, with only a small charge for Dental work, even then I get a 50% discount on this as I only have half the teeth I once had, Education here is completely free of charge right through to getting a PHD at University as long as it is in Scotland and not elsewhere in UK, This could be a great advantage to me if/when I am able to get my Phil Family over here and thus enable my son to be Educated here.

 

Taiwan has EIGHT known active covid cases, New Zealand, ONE. Sure, every country has a unique set of variables, but it's hard to argue that countries with a disciplined response such as these would be faring better if they just threw caution to the wind.

Both of my parents, in their 70s, were initially lax about current circumstances despite my own pleas to protect themselves. Both of them got the virus about six weeks ago. Thankfully, they were among the majority who don't get severe symptoms. They are now taking common sense precautions and happily doing so. Perspectives change when reality hits.

This situation is a mess in many ways and often with harmful tradeoffs, but it is real and one day in the not-so-distant future it shall pass.

At the very least, just wear a d*mn mask. We cover our faces when we cough and sneeze. Covering our faces when we might have a virus that could kill others and not even know we are carrying it is a simple courtesy and painless practice to follow.

 

Kawasan is disgusting nowadays. Four or five years back is was gorgeous - now not so much. They actually have karaoke playing at the falls area. There was also a problem with the canyoneering - politics and greed have ruined it and you can't do the whole run anymore.

Thankfully, we discovered Aguinid Falls later that day. Aguinid is south of Kawasan and is absolutely stunning. It's a series of waterfalls that you wade, walk and climb through over the course of a few kilometers. Super nice adventure!!

Here's a comprehensive blog entry someone wrote up on Aguinid.

Aguinid Falls: A Stunning Mystical Natural Wonder in Samboan

 

Why here? Wow! It was a divine appointment in salt lake city, utah!!
I was having breakfast @ the flyin j truck stop and a friend of mine from 20 years before, walked into the rest. With a small foreign lady with him!! I immediately got up and said hello to my friend!! I invited them to sit and eat with me!! While catching up on many years, his wife ( cristene ) said "rick" in broken and sheepish english, I have a cousin that would really like to meet you!! After I picked myself up off the floor in embarrassment, I said who are you talking about, say again? Then bruce piped in and said ohhhh rick she is beautiful!! Now I have just left another relationship with a chinese lady from fong chow!! I think! So I gave her my cell # and got her cousins number also!! Then about 2 weeks later while I was driving through nebraska I got a tx from an international number! We started a tx get acquainted communication, that lasted 2 months!! Then she got a job where she had access to a computer!! Another 6 months chatting, till I bought a camera @ walmart and put it on my laptop!! She already had one on her bosses computer!! So the next day we said we were finally gonna see what we both look like! The got everything set up and both pushed the button at the same time and "boong" the picture came on screen, and I could not say anything, I just sat there & stared at the most beautiful face I had seen in many moons!! So at the same time I said "your beautiful", "she said your handsome" !! Then we started earnestly getting to know each other!! A few months later I was asking her how much money she was making as a pharmacist floor manager? When she told me p3750.00 a month, I calculated that she was only making $74.00 a month!! Before I realized what I was saying, I said, will you do me a big favor? Please quit your job and take that time to plan our wedding? She looked at me astonished and started crying!! I thought I said or did something wrong, so I asked her what was the matter? She sobbed that I had proposed to her!!! Then I tried to think what I did say!! Ha ha ha ha!! So I took some time off and came here to marry my awesome wife!! Then I went back & sold and turned over most everything I was paying on to the banks, and moved back here for good!!
My wife and I are a really tight team now, and we are planning on building a home in lutoban , overlooking the south china sea!! I love it here!!

 

Some good news for those who are vaccinated

 

No one implied that he did not smoke up all of his profits as is usually the case in "middle level dealers" they just can afford to have a stash bigger than most street addicts. This drug creates misery and suffering to people who have barely a chance to live a life of any substance much less a productive one, not to mention the wives and children who have to "go along for the ride". All of this from a man who had a better chance in life by being born in a "first world country" but choose to come here and add to the suffering. No.... no sympathy here...