⌛ First time here.....first post

Hi Ron! congratulations for having everything working well for you in this country. I hope you enjoy your stay in Cagayan. When you have time, you might want to drop by Dumaguete as well.

 

Thank you. Everything is going well so far except for the taxi rides. I have raced stock cars, motorcycles and boats, but the taxi rides scare me. Lol

Of course, there is the old joke about the optimist that fell off the roof of the tall building. On the way down people heard him say "so far, so good" (except on the first floor).

 

Quite a few old jeeps left behind by the Americans. In fact there are some pretty active Jeep clubs around the country. Mostly older Filipinos with a passion to restoring them. Some of them are perfect. Was a club in Bacolod a few years ago and likely still there. Check around on the web for Jeep clubs in the Philippines...

Also, Mahindra (Indian car/truck manufacturer) made CJ-4/5 clones under license and some were exported around the world...mostly 3rd world...with quite a few winding up in the Philippines. They are very close copies of the U.S. models from the outside appearance...although the mechanicals are quite a bit different.

 

Outstanding !!

I really love those girls from Mindanao. To me they are the best and the most beautiful in the Philippines but my wife is from there too. I think you now understand why I said no one can tell you about the Philippines you really have to experience it.. You just got there this is only the tip of the iceberg. hey how about Some Pictures of you and your lady? that would be nice....

 

Hey, congrats on finding your Filipina dream girl.

I remember feeling the same way about the taxis. What upset me the most, is when there are lots of people crossing the street, and the taxi just honks, and goes right through all the people. Or whizzes past barely missing someone walking in the street(which is very common in Manila)

These days, I hardly even notice it.

Funny what we get used to, living in the Philippines...

 

Teacher.....tomorrow is picture day. And we have decided to open up a (removed by Admin)page for Rudy again to post our pictures there. A lot of couples do that as "success stories". To be honest, we have been "too busy" running around doing things and "getting to know each other". I will post her profile number here so that everyone can look if they want to. And, of course, we will also post pictures on my MySpace page.

Dong....yes, you are absolutely right about the people crossing the road. Age, gender or number of people means nothing. Blow the horn and drive right through the crowd. And, on our way back today on the national highway I saw my first motorcycle/vehicle accident. From the looks of the bike, I think the rider was seriously hurt (or worse).

We went back to the familys barrio today to meet still more relatives and again was greeted as a member of the family by everyone. Tomorrow I have to go to BPI to open an account. I read above (or somewhere) that I can transfer money from Wells Fargo to BPI without problems. My retirement check is still going to Wells Fargo and I am also carrying a large amount of cash in US dollars and I am not comfortable doing that.

All in all, I have met numerous young ladies who are relatives, that are all beautiful, from the ages of 19 to 32 years old that are also looking for foreigner husbands, and the statement is "can you find me a man just like you". It is such a shame to see all of this from such nice people. And I can't speak for all people here yet, but Rudy's family has such very high moral and family values. They are proud and hard working and are thankful for what little they have.
One of my fondest memories was many months ago I tried to explain to Rudy the fact that I was not a "rich American" and that I was only average income in the States. She looked at me though the camera and told me that she could get a job cleaning houses or something to "pay for my own clothes and food" so that she would not cost me anything. I had to explain to her that I had plenty of money for that and her working was not needed. But, that is the way her mind works and it is such a welcomed attitude. All she wants is to make things work with us.

I don't understand why more foreign men are so affraid to come here and meet these wonderful ladies that are so willing to do anything to find happiness. Rudy has a heart and soul the size to Texas.

And my joke of the day is that we were drinking coffee at Dunkin Donuts in SM Mall today and a man from the States, my age, with a pinay wife and 2 small children were just leaving. He walked up to me and said "Welcome, your lady is very beautiful, just like my wife and I have been here for years. Enjoy your new country". And then he just walked away with his family. That is the third time I have been greeted like that here by foreigners.

 

And....of course, two and three people on a motorcyle is common here. But today I saw 5 members of a family.....husband, wife and three small children.... all riding on one motorcycle on the National Highway going 50 plus mph. Three behind the driver and the youngest on the gas tank.

 

Sorry Ron, I needed to unapprove your last post. We can not publish directions and links to adult-dating-sites where membership (paid or free) is required to see the content.

Anyway, your story sounds great (can't be any different when the name of your mahal includes Rudy... hehe), feel free to upload pictures here on DI.

all the best to you

cheers

Rhoody

 

Honestly Ron

I would not even think of going to that web site.. My wife would start to think i was going to replace her.. to much of a headache. would be nice if you could post them here on the Forum.. Many of us have.. I am glad you are finding Mindanao wondrous. it has its charms that is for sure. but sooner or later that will wear off and you will see it for what it is.. but the good things really do out way the bad things..

 

Give me a chance to figure out how to upload pictures and I will of course. And I understand about the site restriction.
Now, on another note....it was a waste of time to "unlock" my 2 iPhones and bring them here. The iPhone 3G is sold in the malls here, unlocked, without a SIM card for less than in the US. In the US, it costs $199.00 with a 2 year contract or $299.00 without a contract. Here they sell them in the mall shops for 6,000 pesos ($130.00). Hummmmm