⌛ Differences between cities here.

Life without that first cup of the day. Can you imagine it.


Jack P.

 

Maybe I am the exception. You can take the boy out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the boy. I love it here but I don't blend in with the locals except family, I can't eat the pig blood dishes, and I can't take the smell of pigs or cows too close to me. Still, I am happy here with my lifestyle, except like now with no running water and apparent repair date. I do admire you guys that can live close to life like the locals, just not me.

 

No Exception.

Hi pat, no you are not the only exception, Yours is just a little dislike, I take your Point but then you have still to settle and unwind from the last year. To be happy with your life is what we are here for, it is just some do and some don't mix. A lot of people can't take the Blood thing, I have to Admit that the larger live things worry me a bit too, (Even Rhoody when he puffs out that chest:D) Pat! you have had a very trying Year and it ain't over yet by the sounds of it, maybe you could talk to the people who sell hand pumps as we discussed, a bore of maybe only 20/30 ft will yield a ground supply, cap it, concrete in a pump stand and Bob's your Uncle, Water. Easy for me and others to say but it is what most houses in a rural area have and of course modern technology will go wrong at some stage. I have always had a belief in Plan "B" Hope other than this issue, I do hope all is well on most other things, I will reply to you mail after lunch OK my Friend, whatever you do, keep Smiling


Jack P.

 

Just wanna say hello to the group.I am a 63 yr old American English teacher in China-Shanghai and will be retiring to the philippines in July 2011-Possibly dumaguete but still looking for a suitable area for me.Where is Aplaya located?I dont wanna live around a lot of foreigners also but dont mind a few good ones.....Jimmy in Shanghai......jlewellen2003@yahoo.com

 

Hi Pat,
As a long time guy here, I know you have been helping a lot of people since the day you arrived. I went without water and even without money. But with a wonderful lady we can make everything work. I know from your posts, you love it here just like me. But sometimes it's a little hard to adapt. one fun thing I did. :D I don't eat the pig blood stuff, but I did eat a balut~ I thought I would loose my last 3 meals! but I have to admit it did taste good and it was a real hit with my friends. not sure yet if I will ever do it again, but it was a good fun experience and that's what life is about. Try to enjoy the temporary navy showers and it will get better my friend.
Ron

 

if you never ate balut, you have no right to stay here as an expat... but only the 21 days old counts ...

 

Jimmylew - welcome to our forum. Read, participate and learn. Ask any and all questions. We will answer.
I'm the one that lives in Apalya. It is on the west side of Mindanao (sort of) facing Dumaguete across the water.
Because we are on the west side, there is no surf, only calm water. But, we have the most beautiful sunsets in the world.
Aplaya has one full-time foreigner - me, and one part-time foreigner, an Aussie (nice guy).
Aplaya is a barrio of about 5000 that is 28km north of Cagayan De Oro and is about 5 minutes north of Villaneuva and 10 minutes south of Jasaan, on the National Highway (a 2 lane asphalt road). Aplaya is located on the water. Daily shopping is in both of those
towns.
Average income here is 10k pesos or less per month, so there is nothin fancy here, just nice friendly people and a lot of beautiful ladies (my wife being the most beautiful).
Any additional info you need you can email me at ronv8917@yahoo.com or send me a message here.
Again welcome.

 

I dont think it is just the difference between the cities, its the cultures and values.

I remember when I first met my wife I had my first experience of a bucket shower with chilling cold water…..my wife said she will make the water hot but I had to wait 30 minutes…I really didn’t know what she meant by that so I followed her and found that she had a fire going out the back with a pot of water in it….waited until it boiled then mixed the hot and cold water together to make it warm for me.
The difference is the traditional family values and they way they go the “extra mile” to please the partner. Even to this day, my wife always goes the extra mile although I never ask, but I do appreciate it. Examples are always putting the toothpaste on my toothbrush and having it ready, or handwashing my work clothes as they are delicate and not putting it through the regular cycle in the washing machine, and this is in Australia, not the Philippines!
When we are back home in the Philippines, she will always ensure I have plenty of fluids to drink, is looked after, chaperoned with a brother in law even if I wanted to go on a solo bike ride up to the shops…I am used to being independent and enjoying doing things on my own, but I am now used to it and don’t mind.
I have a good friend who is Filipino, but raised in Australia. His knowledge of his own culture is zero and does not care. His wife who is Australian, has more versed in the culture than him, grows calamansi trees in their backyard and attempts to cook traditional Filipino dishes …now that is a rare trait in a westernised woman.
Values of western society is totally different compared to asian values.
I recently this week had a discussion with a friend who owns a whitegoods store and he had just come back from a trip from Jakarta, Indonesia. He mentioned that he had a trip of a lifetime, never in his life had he enjoyed a holiday. He mentioned that his hosts were so hospitable that they made sure one staff member had a day off so that they could chaperone him and assist him wherever he went, they offered to rent a car for him, in which he declined. Its these little gestures that all count that the western society has forgot. Most people not all, just want to keep up with the Joneses….next door has a nice car, we should have one as well, or so and so has this or that and there is a never ending competition of trying to compete with someone else.
The humble asian mentality does not have this. They just make do with what they have got. There are some who belittle their own countrymen, but I am referring to the genuine ones which are truly out there who appreciate everything they have got and are just plain happy in life.
I am glad that my in laws appreciate and understand what we have to do in order to sustain ours and their lifetyle as we have had a few of them stay with us in Australia for 6 months to a year in the last 8 years. I told them that I would rather the life of relaxing all day, worrying less, not working 24/7 just to get ahead due to our cost of living here although it is the general way of life in the western world. There are a lot of things I could live without in order to make life less stressful and to enjoy the quality of life more. Quality of life does not mean that you have every mod con available. There is nothing better than a stroll in a park, a picnic down the beach with friends, eating at a local market stall and enjoying the atmosphere, or even travelling the district no #9 or Neube barangay in the mountains one and a half hours away from Dumaguete to witness how the locals live there. Its quite amazing to see horse drawn transport, no motors to be seen, old male farmers carrying a basket of vegetables to be sold at the market with a larger than life bolo sheathed on the side of his waist, buffalo/caribou used to carry market produce on a wooden pallet dragging along the road. Where else can you sit on top of a jeepney, visit a sulfur spring such as palaypay falls….the Philippines is a unique country and I love it!

 

I never will forget whay sold me on the Philippines.. my first trip here, my now wife and I were sitting on a beach in Siquijor and it was time for school to end for the day. About 5 children in their school uniforms barefoot and carrying their school shoes were walking down the beach on their way home. One of the older children climbed a coconut tree to get a young coconut and they took it over to a large rock and popped a hole in it and the shared the juice.

At that point I decided I wanted my children to be raised here. Now all I need is a beachfront house close to a school for them to walk to and from!

 

Door Bell!

On the humour side Joe, if the kids have to pass your House, disconnect the door bell or you may have to borrow PatO's cow pats Door Bells, Priests and Kids can disturb your afternoon Siesta!
Living too close to a school????


(Sorry Pat couldn't resist)


Jack P.