788 replies to this topic

[thailover57]

Looks like an Episode of Fear Factor! Or maybe Wiley Coyote. I could see those straps breaking one at a time and falling in a very uncomfortable way. I'd pass too.

[Legend]

i too would have backed out of the zip line.
i would never put my life in the hands of these people,
getting a taxi ride is bad enough.
your death would just be shrugged aside.

nice update macman.

[thailover57]

In 1992, I made my first international trip for my company to Cebu. It was only for a ten day period, and I was married and not aware of LB's at the time. So there was no hanky-panky on my part, but the one thing that stood out for me was a trip from my hotel to the Data Center for my company. As the taxi driver was going along, he slammed on the brakes and started laughing. There were two men chasing this undernourished dog with sticks and just beating it to death. I was almost sick watching this. He explained to me that any dog not tied up was fair game and would make a great meal. My first introduction to culture shock and there have been many others since.

I was doing some training in this warehouse where they had blocked out a little classroom. Down one side of the room there was an open crack and it was the sewer line. The smell was awful! Their solution was to tape mango air fresheners to the A/C unit. To this day, I won't go near a mango!

Sorry for the diversion...

[Macman]

Don’t be sorry for the diversion, Thailover, but I sure hope that I never see any of those sights. As for “water-buffalo syndrome”, Filipinos are like Thai people when it comes to family. In her case, some of her family are reasonably well off, but most are not. We’ve talked it over, and I hope we’ve come up with a solution. She realizes that I have my own family obligations in the U.S. We’ve set up a budget. It’s considerably more than most make in this area. We will try and save enough each month to cover the cost of helping out when needed. At least we are able to talk about it and recognize that it’s something that can cause friction.

Crackerjax, I’m hoping that the cable system we’re getting will be sufficient. They seem to have enough, including the NBA. There’s a lot I’ll miss, but I have a feeling it’ll be worth it. The guy was supposed to come yesterday afternoon, but we had a power outage. (More about that sort of thing later.)

Surin, we pay 9,000 PHP for a 2-bedroom, partially furnished apartment. Air conditioning in our bedroom. We are about a 5-minute ride to the bay. The guy across from us is very wealthy, and has 2 horses. They are usually the first things I see when I open my front door. BTW, guys, if you like cocks, they are constantly crowing here. I’m getting used to it. It’s like birds singing to me now. (Oh, you thought I meant the other kind of cocks. Sorry.)

Thanks for the encouragement, Petesie. And speaking of day-to-day, I had a surprise bonus. Angel is a great cook. In my previous visits, we always stayed at my hotel and ate our meals out. I’ve always been a picky eater, but there are a lot of Filipino foods I like. Last night she made chicken and pork sasarasso. It’s a simple dish, but so damn tasty. It’s chicken, pork and potatoes cooked in a delicious, tangy sauce and poured over rice. I mentioned that I’d never seen it on any menus, and she said they don’t usually serve it in restaurants. Ahhhhh, home cookin’.
I guess I’m going to have to buy a car eventually, but I’m scared to death to drive here. There are no traffic lights and only a few stop signs to which nobody pays any attention. We make our way about on tricycles, those motor bikes with cabins mounted on them. It’s like mayhem, but they seem to know what they’re doing. I sure don’t. Last February I was in Tacloban (about 2 hours from here). They have no traffic lights either, even though it’s a city of 175,000 people. No lights, but we got a ticket for jaywalking. Honest.
One of the things that really surprised me was how much I could not buy here. I have yet to see paper towels. I asked Angel, and she didn’t know what they are. Also, I’m sure they are here somewhere, but I haven’t been able to find a beard and mustache trimmer. I even looked in Cebu. Speaking of Cebu, we will probably have to go there about once a month, just to buy some of the things I can’t get here. It’s a nice city, but it’s about 3 hours each way door-to-door. I mentioned that we had a power outage yesterday. They are quite frequent here. I had already known that because there were many times Angel called me on the phone in NY because we couldn’t Skype because of the outage. The big problem with that for me is no air conditioning and no fan.
We’re having some friends over for lunch so I’ll cut this off for now. Speaking of friends, Angel has a nice bunch of friends, most straight, some gay and a few ladyboys. They are a lot of fun, and seem happy for us.

Macman

[xyzzy]

Nice to follow life in the PI Macman. I have spent a few months there.

BTW, guys, if you like cocks, they are constantly crowing here. I’m getting used to it. It’s like birds singing to me now. (Oh, you thought I meant the other kind of cocks. Sorry.)

I stayed in Ermita once in an urban setting and saw a cock as I walked a few blocks to the now defunct LA Cafe bar. A bit surprising for me especially during the bird flu thing.

We make our way about on tricycles, those motor bikes with cabins mounted on them.

Trikes! Trike drivers are such a rip off in AC. Hope they are better where you live. But it does help to have a local with you. Avoid the livestock trikes.

[Macman]

Holy cow, Anthony. That's pretty harsh. That harness really scared me, though. As Thailover said, it was like an episode of Fear Factor.

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[Legend]

you seem to be getting in your stride macman, thanks man, this is the best read this week.

i wouldnt fancy being woke up by cockerells. but i suppose i get the same thing here with the amount of dogs barking , because some lazy bastards dont take em out.

"jaywalking".?
that is one strange law i,ll never understand.

[Legend]

Holy cow, Anthony. That's pretty harsh. That harness really scared me,.

its reality my friend.
its not a coincidence that all falang deaths are "suicide".
a few quid to the right bloke, and you are just another suicide in pattaya people with a photo of a copper pointing at your body.
foul play not suspected.

i wasnt swiping at the filipino,s particularly, i never put my life in the hands of any fairground, bungy , watersports etc......

[Macman]

I haven't seen a livestock trike yet, xyzzy, but I'll keep my eye out so I can avoid them. Thanks, Anthony. We have plenty of barking dogs too, though. Everyone considers New York City to be noisy (and it is), but it's pretty loud here, a cacophony of animals, motorcycles, tricycles, kids, etc.
We went to the bank the other day. I wanted to see if I could open a joint account. Angel already has an account there, so I thought it would be easy. I'm getting killed with bank charges from the ATM machines. It's funny - they will not dispense more than 10,000 PHP in a transaction (about $230 U.S.), but you can put your card right back in and get another 10k. Problem is that there's a transaction charge. I thought I could open an account, deposit the amount of our monthly budget via check, and withdraw it as we need it. I was told I can't do it until I get an ARC (Alien Registration Card), which I'll do in a couple of weeks at the embassy in Cebu. I asked if I could deposit a check drawn on a U.S. bank into Angel's account. Yes, I can, and it only takes 45 days to clear. I don't get it. I was just outside the bank withdrawing money. It is done electronically and hits my account immediately. So a check - what? They're not exactly going to be sending the check to NYC and then physically transporting the money here. This is a techie country - everyone is walking around with I-pods, I-pads, I-touches, laptops, etc. A bank transaction like that could be done in 2 minutes. 45 days!!!
Back home, if I don't play golf (I always walk the course), I walk 4 miles a day. I just came back from a walk and feel like I'm going to die. This heat - whew. And we're not in the hot season. I'm going to have to start taking some photos to post soon. It's just a little overwhelming right now.
Well, my love is cooking right now (chicken livers and rice). I have to wash up. We'll just watch a DVD movie and hit the sack early tonight. Zipline trip on Saturday.

Macman

[Surin Nix]

Great reporting Macman! Very interesting read.

So, I did the conversion and your rent is about $207 U.S. This is precisely the reason I look forward to retiring early in either SE Asia or a certain part of Latin America. Is your place comfortable and reasonably well-constructed? Do you feel safe in the neighborhood (where I imagine you are one of few, if not the only, foreigner in the 'hood). When you start posting pics (and we all hope you do), hope you'll include a few of your new environment. I just can't help but think what a departure from NYC this must be.

Angel's cooking sounds great!

Have you had Shanghai Lumpia (with the sweet sauce on the side) yet? ....that is a personal favorite of mine. Garlic/Shrimp Gambas were always a favorite too.

Just curious, but are you transitioning in this Phillipine adventure of yours from full-time employment to full-time retirement? Or, have you been retired for awhile and this is just part of your ongoing retirement adventure? Had you planned on doing this for quite sometime? Hope not too many questions....just native curiosity on my part. I really admire you for taking this exceptionally bold step to go where you have gone, and to be with whom you have chosen.

Nix

[Macman]

Okay, Anthony. Fair enough.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I had a pretty productive day yesterday as far as my social life is concerned. I thought I was supposed to play golf, but actually it was just to meet with a couple of members of the golf club here. I was concerned that I wouldn't be allowed to join because I'm a foreigner, but that isn't the case. They made me feel very welcome, and I played early this morning. We teed off a little after 5:00 AM, played just 9 holes, and I was back home by 8:10. The cost to join is more than reasonable,and it gives you unlimited play. All you have to pay is the caddy fee. I don't know about the cost of golf in the UK, Australia, New Zealand or Denmark and the like, but Americans will sure appreciate this. The annual fee is 7,500 PHP (about $175 U.S.) and the monthly dues are 1,500 PHP (roughly $35). So for less than $600, I get golf for a year. The caddy fee, by the way, is 200 PHP (less than $5).

BTW, Angel came with me to the meeting because it was a friend of her mother's that arranged it. I wondered what the reaction would be, and was maybe a little worried. They could not have been nicer about it and to her. Both of these men have homes in the U.S. with dual citizenship. One of them even got into a discussion with Angel about the fact that same sex marriage can't occur in P.I., but can in the States. He owns a number of businesses here, and said that he would see to it that Angel would get a discount whenever she shopped at any of his stores. Because I don't have my Alien Certification Registration card yet, I can't buy a car, so he picked me up at 4:45 this morning. They play every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so we're playing again this Saturday (Thursday I'll be in Cebu, extending my visa, and seeing about the ACR card). Incidentally, the other guy didn't realize that Angel was a LB until his friend explained it to him. I had been talking about the difficulties of getting Angel to America, even if just for a visit, and he said that we should marry. That's when his friend explained the situation.

A few more pics - I had said that the wealthy neighbor owned horses, but I now realize that people rent horses to graze on their property to keep the grass trim. The horses that I sometimes see in the morning are not even on his land; they're in a lot that separates our property from his.

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[xyzzy]

I'm getting killed with bank charges from the ATM machines. It's funny - they will not dispense more than 10,000 PHP in a transaction (about $230 U.S.), but you can put your card right back in and get another 10k. Problem is that there's a transaction charge.

Like in Thailand this pisses me off. But it's even worse than Thailand as you get charged a 150p ATM fee to withdraw only 10,000p. If there is a Citi Bank branch near you might see if they charge the ATM fee. They don't in BKK but some have questioned their exchange rate as being a bit low (they get you one way or another).

Joint back account! You are a brave man.