Best Posts in Forum: Expat Section

* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
* Sudden seeing in one or both eyes
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
* Sudden severe headache with no known cause
*** Get to a hospital right away

 

Another problem with O- blood donors here are that a lot are classed as too old. I know at least 2 others here in this province besides myself that have O- blood, however, as we are all around the 60 year old mark or more, I believe that we will not be accepted because of age, or previous illness. When I first came here in the late '80's, I was a regular blood donor for Silliman medical, often donating up to 4 units a year, when I was home from work, I still have my card that they issued. With such a comparatively rare group, when in an emergency where someone's life is in danger, I feel that the rules should be changed, but then I'm not doctor, so what the **** do I know.
(Anyway, three of us have an agreement, if any of the others are in need of blood we will donate, to save life, despite what Silliman, the Phil Red Cross or whoever else says otherwise).

 

Well all of you good folk out there I must tell you that last Wednesday The Freak nearly ended his pitiful life, but thanks to a smart arse foreigner he is still with us.
I (The Freak that is)was sitting at the bar at Flip Flops gazing into my glass of beer when this foreigner built like a country sh*t house, and covered in tattoo`s sat down next to me, picked up my glass of beer and drank the whole lot, then slammed the glass onto the bar and glared at me, whilst snarling in my face.
As soon as it dawned on me of what happened I started to cry like a baby, (yes folks you are hearing right) and in between sobs I asked him ,why did he drink my beer?
He replied that he was looking for a fight, and decided to pick one with me, but he was taken back when I burst out in tears, and he told me to be a man and to stick up for my rights.
By this time I was a blubbering mess, but I was able to control myself for a minute, and I said to him, hey "moving pictures" I will tell you why I am crying.

It all started this morning when I woke up only to find a note addressed to me on my pillow from my missus.
It read .... my dear Freak(That`s me) after fifteen years of living with you, and getting nowhere fast I have decided to leave you for another.
OK I thought, but reading further on she said that she was leaving me ..... wait for it, she was leaving me for a bloody SHEMALE, and then she went on to say that she swings both ways ( not that I ever knew) and that she was getting both male, and female for the price of one.
After I calmed down from the shock, I went to the fridge to crack a tinny, but no bloody beer, she cleaned all of the food out, beer and all.
So I walked outside to make a phone call for a home delivery of grog, and just when I thought that things could not get any worst I found my dog stone dead in the driveway, poisoned. (the b*tch always hated him)
After burying my dog whom I loved so much I went back inside to send an email to my mate in Australia to tell him what had happened, but he had already sent an email to me informing me that he finally went to the doctors to ask about the pain he has had in his stomach for the past few months.
He was omitted straight into hospital, and the doctor opened him up, to find he was riddled with cancer, so he stitched him up again and sent him home, with just a few weeks to live.
By this time I was a mess, my whole life was in shatters and I did now where to turn, I lost a wife, a mate, my dog, and my beer all in one day...there was no future for me because it was then that I checked where I kept my wallet, and passport, to discover everything was gone, even my ATM card that she knows the password of as I had a weak moment one day when I was under the influence and she got it out of me. (Yes I know)

As luck happened I had a few peso`s in my pocket, so I got into my car to drive it here at Flip Flops ,and on the way in this crazy idiot came out of now where and side swiped me.
My car was undriveable, and that was the straw that broke the camels back.
So I left my car on the roadway, ignoring the screaming arsehole who was demanding money from me, for him, and his family, and walked the rest of the way to Flip Flops, and ordered the beer that you drank sir, when you came in looking for a fight.
I was staring into that glass of beer, waiting for the suicide pill to dissolve that I placed into it so as I could end my miserable life, but thanks to you it was the only pill I had and that is why I became a blubbering mess when you drank my beer, because now I have nothing left except an ongoing life of misery. .........
But have a good day sir.

 

An update and back on topic. Wife just paid her philhealth. 4,200p and it cost me nothing to use philhealth.I am on her list from 2014 so I don't pay anything
I can use the wife's account, and use philhealth.

 

Thanks for your reply.

First of all I apologize in case I have insulted you. That was at no point my intention.

I didn't know that you have only little experience of the daily challenges in this country. Hence I was surprised of your "western thinking".

In our home countries we are used to live with rules, law and regulations and in case somebody is not behaving according to the law you can claim your right. At least this is the idea.

Here it's different. Completely different. You need to adapt local rules and forget everything you knew from the past.

From my point of view you can have a more or less decent life here if you can manage to avoid conflicts. Not only in terms if traffic, but in general.

Of course it's not always possible. Let your wife handle disputes. She can most probably do it in a better and more successful way.

The Philippines are ruled by tribes. Not by law.

 

I don't think being a mother is a medical qualification and I am not sure it is necessary to end a reply with LOL.

Unfortunately you know how to produce children but have very little knowledge of medicine - you wrote "when there's an infection there's usually fever and that's when you need antibiotics" and that is nonsense. Viral infections also cause fevers but do not respond to antibiotics - doctors' waiting rooms are crowded with people seeking antibiotics when they are not only of NO use but are actually harmful (being a mother you probably know about antibiotic resistance due to over use).

You also state that "But if it is something that can be fixed with vitamins or food, then there is no need to go to the hospital." That is another piece of nonsense. Tell me which illnesses can be fixed with food - I won't dispute vitamins (PART of food, incidentally) because, like religion, it is a belief in many cases.

You seem a nice person but I cannot allow such totally inaccurate information being put out there without correction by someone, who although he fails to have children, has a fair degree of medical knowledge by training and experience.

 

The one thing Toyota has going for it here over Nissan is massive brand power which makes for a quick selling vehicle with minimal loss. We bought a Mazda CX3 in Manila while working and living there, perfect small car for NCR, Luzon. We drove it to Dumaguete for a 3 month trip, we never left and our one regret here is ground clearance. Roads a generally wider and better here than NCR but so many of the places you want to get to in Negros Oriental roads can be very bad.

Toyota Rush ticks a lot of boxes if you dont want a Truck/ Ute and at 1,1M PHP super popular for resale, good clearance. Mostly ugly but not as ugly as a Suzuki Ertriga and super practical. I would go a Truck/ Ute if you are going to do any building work. Delivery costs, delays and dealing with delivery drivers is a pain and if you can load most materials onto your on truck it makes life a little bit easier here.

 

Exit plans, an overreaction I think. Because you can't smoke in public; already a law, bars to close at midnight, how could we possibly survive. In the UK we had laws introduced to allow 24 hour drinking in bars and clubs, as the view was that people wouldn't rush their drinks before closing time. Unfortunately, the result was drinking at the same rate over a longer period. The explosion in assaults and criminality exploded, police were unable to cope and law abiding members of the public stayed away from bars and restaurants. For most of us here with families would welcome a more disciplined and safer environment. People are overreacting to what Duterte may or may not do. Just wait and see as I'm sure that he will have to moderate his views and statements. People I know whom have visited Davao, say that it is one of the safest and well organised cities in the Philippines, although I must admit that I have never been there.

 

On my first trip to the Philippines I rented a vehicle. Prices were comparable to US rental car prices. My three week stay was between $700-$800 if I remember correctly. The truck I had broke down and they replaced it with a piece of crap car. They said they would have the truck fixed in two days and I would get it back. A week and a half later they finally had it fixed and I got it back.

For my second trip back we purchased a used Mitsubishi Strata. It is manual shift 4x2 but works just fine even in the mountains. It is fairly comfortable and stylish enough for me, fits 5 inside and as many as you can pile in the back.

For a while while we are in the US, our neighbor in PH is also my wife's cousin who is a mechanic. We would pay him a few hundred peso to drive it for us once or twice a month. Worked great for a while, then he got busy. Truck sat for a while and soon needed a new battery. Not a big deal. I just didn't want the truck sitting to long and have stuff starting to freeze up. Eventually he became unbusy and they would take small trips. Bacong to Dauin, Bacong to Forest Camp-Valentia, etc. Nice little outing for everyone, they get to see places they have lived around forever but never had the means to actually see.

Now my wife's sister is getting married to a guy who is a driver for the owner of a local engineering firm in Dumaguete. They now use the truck off an on to go to his hometown of Tanjay. Saves me paying the cousin, but puts a few more KM on the truck.

Bought the truck used, had to buy a new set of tires, a new battery, a cover for the truck, and the air conditioner always had trouble keeping up. My soon to be brother in law had the air fixed so now everything is good. We cover the truck even though we have a fairly large carport-essentially a garage with no door- more to keep the chickens off it than anything. We paid 650k peso for the truck, I think it is a 2013 and had 35k km on it when we bought it in 2017.

Bottom line, it is much better to own than rent if you have the people you can trust to help take care of it and won't abuse it. I have heard horror stories of families taking advantage of things and ruining them because it isn't theirs, but my experience has been the exact opposite. They are very grateful and they take care of things we have there. Even when we are there, the one sister will wash the truck every time we go somewhere to help keep it clean. In fact we now own the Mitsubishi, a Multicab, and a Chariot there that they take care of. They use the Chariot and Multicab as needed, to get water or collect firewood for example. They ask every time when they want to use the truck though, although I don't recall a time we ever told them they couldn't use it. I think I am lucky and couldn't really ask for a better family to be in-laws with.