Food & Grocery Best Posts in Thread: Import market for Expats

PCs and Monitors are normally dual voltage and rated 50/60Hz...I would bet that issue was a voltage one; so many places have way too many houses tapped of a single transformer and very long/undersized services. Plus the lack of a properly grounded system plays hell with electronics.

Shawn

 

The problem with growing from seed is that the root needs to get established QUICKLY to provide water and nutrients to the developing shoot. There is a CONSTANT need for water (miss it for even one hour and the plant could die) and sandy soils do not hold water very well (can be improved with use of compost). In addition, the developing leaves will be losing water at a very high rate (by transpiration) and the hot climate will accelerate that. It may be that the uptake of water will not match the loss of water (especially when the plant is still very young), so the plant will die. I would suggest growing the seeds INDOORS in a shaded spot (north facing window would be best) and with the pot inside a clear plastic bag (to help retain water but still allow light in) ....... then planting out when sturdy. If indoors the plant grows towards the light (phototropism) then turn it around regularly. The outdoor site would also benefit by being shady (except of course for plants which grow well in this hot climate) and initially the plant should be covered by a plastic pot (NOT a clear one) to retain moisture and reduce the direct heat of the sun. The lack of sunlight for a few days will not kill the plant but excessive sunlight might. There are, btw, issues about importing plant material (which may include seeds) as it may introduce diseases (especially bacterial, viral, fungal) formerly unknown here and decimate local crops .... some diseases are non-specific, which means that even though you bring in the seeds of species A (which may not be a local crop) that disease could affect Species B, poss C ... etc (which may be local and VERY IMPORTANT crops to the economy).

 

Sorry, I should have started my post with: Speaking of Customs,...".
It was eleven days before my graddaughter's birthday, I was in a hurry hence the EMS. I have sent exactly the same stuff last year via sea+air in a Balikbayan box without a problem. The only difference was that this time they were in their original store package. Japan hasn't emailed me about the problem. I wished they took that one item out and sent the rest. Anyway, lessons learned.

 

I have just seen a earlier post mentioning Branston Pickle. As a Brit living overseas for a long, long time I make a look a like Branston using all locally available ingredients, prunes, green papaya etc. I make one batch a year and give some to family and the rest lasts us the year. Sorry not selling but I am very happy to teach anyone else who is interested.

 

which foreigners do you want to supply? americans? australians? europeans? koreans? japanese? you really need a big store to satisfy all different tastes. I guess, many of us chose Dumaguete for living because you nearly get everything here what you like, not every day like in western supermarkets, but all in all; the supply is good here already. all the kinds of sausages I can buy every day (if I want to), bread, cheese, fresh milk, chocolate, wine etc - I find it fantastic, you just need to fill your wallet before you go shopping - I live here with a good mix of filipino and european food and I don't loose weight

 

Hence why everything in the West is 99% "Made in China" nowadays... And then they complain that local jobs go to Asia...