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[Hard News]

All the best Macman...You are an inspiration !!

 

Sebu  ??   My flat mate is from Sebu.....went back for Christmas, Said the place was OK ! .....she has seen my girls pics...hasn`t picked up she is a LB though  But has lots of filipino LB friends !!  Thought see might have catched me out by now !

[thailover57]

Safe trip, Mac!

[Macman]

Thanks, guys.  Safe and sound now with Angel in our favorite Cebu hotel (Quest). No sleep on the plane.  Dead tired.

[Spyder Rocket]

Well, tomorrow morning I'm on a Cathay Pacific flight heading back to The Philippines.  Angel is going to meet me at the airport in Cebu.  We'll spend a couple of nights there, and then head for home.  Except for internet at our home, everything is pretty much back to normal, at least in our neighborhood.  We got our electricity after exactly 10 weeks, but some people not far from us still don't have it.  Angel tells me that it has been very, very hot, and has been raining a lot.  "Hello, fire.  I just left the frying pan."
 
For the past 9 weeks, I've had a different picture of Nancy as my computer wallpaper. (All G-rated.)   Time to put Angel back on there. 

You got out of NYC right in front of a big Nor Easter that is rolling up the coast. Have a safe trip!

[Macman]

Thanks, Spyder.  I experienced a few bad snow storms back there.  In one, it took me 6 hours and 40 minutes to drive 52 miles (about 85 kilometers), most of the time spent in the last 25 miles on Long Island.

 

Well, Cebu was great, but I'm back home now    We have electricity and running water, but I have only extremely limited access to the internet and thus emails. I'm using a plug-in now to get on line, but it's very slow and I can't rely on it. I found out why the internet provider we use is not up yet.  Every time they put new wiring to their boxes, it gets stolen.  The going rate for that kind of wiring here is 60 pesos per kilo (about $1.35 per 2.2 pounds).  That sounds very cheap, but there is so much unemployment here after the storm that every peso counts.  Unemployment in The Philippines before the storm was 29%.  I can't imagine what it is now here in Leyte.
 

When I got back, I found out that the wife of one of my friends has dengue fever.  Crazy  place, this.

[Macman]

Well, heading back to New York for my annual visit (the visit in the winter after the typhoon doesn't count). We're here in Cebu, just a few hours before my flight.  I'm looking forward to some "normal" hot weather, and seeing my family and friends.  I'll miss Angel, but I love to get back to The States for a while.

[jfrank]

Macman, congratulations on your happy situation! any experience with long term relationships in Thailand ?

[Macman]

Thanks, jfrank.  Actually, I didn't get to Thailand until Angel and I visited Pattaya in February, 2012.  I went to watch a golf tournament, and we combined that into a vacation.  I know that there are several forum members who are in now, or have been in long-term relationships in the Land of Smiles.

[jfrank]

Thanks Macman , for some reason I can't use the "Life this button"

Are you back in PI?

The longest I've been with a PI LB is 4 months, they are far more educated, and a fun experience, but I always endup in Thailand. What is it like living in PI these days? I was in Sabang Puerto Galera

[Macman]

I can't use the "Like This" button either. It's too Facebooky for me. I'm not as bad as Jimbo about Facebook, but I don't like it.

Angel and I have been living together for more than 3 years now, and I enjoy my life with her, BUT, as I've told her, if something should happen to her, I wouldn't even wait for the wake.  I'd be on the first flight out the next day.  I'm only half-joking. Maybe if we lived in Cebu or Davao City it would be different, but we're on Leyte.  I can't even buy golf balls here.  I have to go to Cebu, which is a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride from our city.   The other thing is the noise.  I grew up in New York City, but this is the noisiest place I've ever been in.  There is a cacophony of sounds made up of loud motorcycle engines, barking dogs, roosters (and here I thought I liked cocks), church bells, church prayers and sermons on loudspeakers and noisy people.  Angel and I moved to a new place 2 weeks ago.  It's a beautiful rented house; 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, living room, dining room, a kitchen with plenty of counter and cabinet space, a nice-sized veranda, small front yard, bigger back yard, and a maid's quarters out back, which we use for storage; 10,000 Philippine pesos a month ($230 U.S.)  Unfortunately, it's right across from the church.  Every morning, at 4:45, a group of neighbors walks to church for mass.  Of course, they know it's time for mass because the friggin' bells ring for 20 minutes.  I guess these people are all hard of hearing because they walk along talking at the top of their lungs, yelling out, "Morning" to anyone they see.  Naturally, that sets off the 2 fucking Chihuahuas next door, who in turn get the church dog howling.  Of course, ever since the big storm last year, we have services at night too.  It's terrific because I don't really have to leave the house in order to hear all the prayers.  Thanks to that terrific sound system, I can hear everything right there in my home. It's really wonderful because, believe it or not, we're into the Christmas season here, and the church is kind enough to serenade us with hymns and Christmas carols throughout the day and night.  Actually, I'm a little surprised I haven't heard any yet.  They usually start on September 1st.

 

Listen, the Filipino people are wonderful, warm and friendly, but  I MISS NEW YORK SO MUCH I COULD CRY.

 

On a happier note, we got a puppy.

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[Spyder Rocket]

I've been wanting to ask for your assessment of crime and safety in the PI. I gather it can vary greatly from one locale to the next, but how are things in your village?

Do you feel safe when going out, and do you have to take extraordinary security precautions?

Any bad experiences in your three years there?

What locations do you hear have the most and least crime directed at foreigners?

[Macman]

Spyder, it's been pretty good lately.  About a year and a half ago, we had a serious crime spree.  Up until that point, I had always felt safe walking around, even at night. Some people said that the surge in robberies was due to the fact that it was the off-season for the sugar industry, but that happens every year, and there had not been evidence of an increase in crime before that.  Actually our place is not a village.  We're in Ormoc City, which probably has around 200,000 people, but it's occupies a huge area, mostly farming, and is spread out.  The city proper is relatively small.  We've had a few shootings here; some were in the course of a robbery, and others seem to be drug-related.  I have never had any problems, and the people are very friendly towards foreigners for the most part.  Cebu, like any large city, has its share of crime, but I don't think it is directed towards any one group, other than the fact that foreigners are thought to have more money.  There are a lot of Korean people coming to The Philippines, and there have been a number of scams and outright holdups directed against them, again because they are thought to have money.  I like Cebu, and have never felt threatened in any way there.  Like any place, you need to be aware of your surroundings, and to take proper precautions.  Being from New York, that comes naturally to me.  From what I understand, Davao City in Mindanao is probably one of the nicest cities in The Philippines.  The crime rate is very low due to a very, very strict mayor.  Supposedly he advocates a shoot first and ask questions later policy towards (suspected) criminals.  Anything south of there is probably not a good place for foreigners because of the very militant Muslim community which has been seeking an independent state for a long time.  Kidnappings and killings are commonplace.  ("Commonplace" is probably an exaggeration and an improper word, but the U.S. State Department advises Americans not to go there.)  Manila is a whole different story.  I'm sure it has some great places, but it's crowded and dangerous, as far as I'm concerned. I'm a city guy, but I wouldn't go there unless I had to.