788 replies to this topic

[sunnydaze]

hi macman...good luck in phils..its completly different to thailand as u know.
anyway,you can buy those things u was after in cebu at SM mall.
they have many good malls in cebu.
also if u have time,check out mactan island ,there is some very nice beaches there.its about 20 mins from central cebu.

[Surin Nix]

I'd have done the zipline in a second. Last time I checked, life is 100% fatal....just a matter of when.

You are on the zipline ride of a lifetime Mac. It takes some serious cahonas to do what you're doing, and it makes for a fascinating read. Glad to see that you're posting photos. Brings to life all the stuff you've been telling us about. Angel, by the way, is a cutie. (nice rear-end, if you don't mind me saying so... ).

How is the overall vibe now that you've been there for a few days? It surely must seem like a honeymoon....at least i'd think so. Does it feel that way to you? Is everything still a little bit akimbo, or does life seem to be taking on a predictable rythym?

...and does Angel seem happy with the arrangement?

As always, just native curiosity. Don't mean to pry....

Nix

[Macman]

Surin, it's a nice neighborhood and I feel completely safe. And you're right, very few Caucasians in this town, but oddly enough there's a Kiwi (I hope that's not a derogatory designation) living here in my apartment building. He's married to a local. The accommodations are quite comfortable except for one thing - NO HOT WATER. Actually it's not so bad. Back home, I lived in a suburb just outside New York City. The water there was very cold, and if there was no hot water, it would be brutal. Here, because of the constant heat, even the cold water is luke-cold, to coin a word. One thing I will probably never get used to is the staring. Everyone stares at us. It's not because I'm foreign. Last February I went for a long walk by myself, and hardly anyone even glanced at me. When I'm with Angel, we're like a freak show. Angel is fairly tall for a Filipino (5' 7" at least),so most locals know the score, and our age difference is another factor. She's also quite attractive, so guys will stare anyway. Women stare discreetly, kids stare innocently, but guys just plain out-and-out, no bones about it, STARE. So far, no one has made any loud comments or made any kind of threatening gestures, but it's slightly uncomfortable.
Surin, I've been retired for a few years, but this is definitely NOT something I ever planned on doing. Angel and I had a connection on line (Skype, Yahoo Messenger) that started out friendly, then flirtatious, then progressed to romantic, but I assumed that it would remain a cyber romance and go no further. She kept urging me to visit, but I had no plans in that direction. Then a young women I had worked with suffered a massive stroke and died. She was 38 years old. Life is too short. I had airline miles that I was hoarding for God-knows-what reason. I decided to take the plunge and visit, not really expecting much. We hit it off right away. A few visits and I decided to give this a chance. I know it's strange, but my 2 sons know all about this. The younger guy cautioned me to make a few visits before I decided, and he was right. BTW, he thinks it won't work; that I'll get too homesick. My older son encouraged me right from the start. He said that we both deserve to be happy. (Coincidentally, Angel is sitting here, writing a letter to him right now.)
Hey, I have something I want to share that I think will strike a chord with you guys, but we have to get ready to go out soon. I'll pick this up again.
One aside - does Pampamsam still own LaBamba? I sent him a PM when I decided to do this. I know he picked it up, but he never replied. I'm not sure if he remembers me. I've never been to LOS, but Sam and I spoke on the phone in New York a couple of times. It was about the Franck fiasco. Oh, man, those were weird times. Pentire and I were playing a game of intrigue, with me as the spy, conversing with Franck's "son", Felipe. Anyway, if anyone knows Sam, give him my regards.

[Macman]

Oh, shoot. I meant to respond to xyzzy and sunnydaze, but forgot.
x (if I may call you by your first letter), here it's 200 PHP per transaction by the P.I. banks, and I'm pretty sure that the U.S. bank has a foreign transaction fee of 3% or something. There's a Citibank in Cebu, but it's not really a bank. It's a business office, but it does have an ATM. Fortunately, one of my best friends is also my broker. I've transferred my money from Citi to his brokerage firm. They pick up most of the charges.
Sunny, I think you're right. I'll be going to Cebu in 2 weeks. I've been to 2 of their malls, and they're spectacular. Thanks.

Macman

[thailover57]

Sorry you couldn't get the VPN to work. Anchor Free is the source. They have a website here: http://anchorfree.co...hotspot-shield/ and advertise their product with download buttons. Hope that will work for you.

And your report is great - continuing to enjoy it.

Thanks

[dixon cox]

... but guys just plain out-and-out, no bones about it, STARE.

It seems to be more the case in asian countries outside of Thailand and I agree and know exactly what you mean. I find the blatant and continual staring intrusive and rude (must be a western thing), but to those staring and the ladyboys themselves it's not so much of an issue, I guess they're used to it and immune.

In Thailand it happens sometimes too and my LB GF at the time said a Thai word (she didn't know the English equivalent) which later online translated to "a work of art".

I often carry a camera around with me and sometimes smile at them broadly as I take their picture, they're not so keen on that and commonly look away immediately.


Loving this thread and reading about your life Mac, keep up the excellent commentary

[dazedandconfused]

Great stuff Macman. I lived out 'in the sticks' for a few years and it brings it all back!

Heading to Cebu or similar once a month is a good idea - you can pick up pretty much all the things that you once thought standard goods there.

If you buy a car my advice is the bigger the better. A small SUV sized vehicle means that a. you have more chance of being seen by other drivers b. less chance of suffering any major damage in a crash and c. you are sitting up higher so you get to see more. It's also amazing how many people will want a ride when they find that you have wheels so you can get more of them in with the extra space....

Doesn't take long to adapt to driving here - just assume a defensive attitude, assume that every pedestrian has a suicidal tendancy with a weird desire to bring it all to an end at the hands of a car driven only by a Westerner, and see the horn as your close and constant friend not something to be used only in extreme circumstances!

If you are applying for an ACR card be prepared for the long haul. Lots of paperwork and asscociated work. If you find a decent / honest Fixer consider using them. It's definitely worth getting official status (ACR, Retirement Visa, Quota Visa etc) here because without it is very difficult to get credit cards, driving licenses and so on. It's not good to live on an ATM / Debit card from your home bank and at some point you might want to have some of the PI related stuff in your name.

Cheers

[Macman]

I don't consider it prying, Surin. I'm posting this stuff, so questions are definitely in order. Thanks for the compliment about Angel. I had asked her if it was okay to post those 2 photos before I did so, and made sure I used pics that didn't actually show her face. Nothing wrong with doing so, but I just wanted to protect our privacy to a small extent. The overall vibe is very good. I'm adjusting pretty quickly. It doesn't really feel like a honeymoon. Angel is so easy to be with, it just feels like a normal relationship. It's as though we've been living together for a lot longer than we actually have been. I know Angel feels as happy and comfortable with the arrangement as I do. When I was here a little over a week, my younger son asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how is it going for you?" At that time, I said "It's a 7.5, and trending upward." It's a solid 8 now, and still trending upward.

Thanks for that, Thailover. I'll give it a try tomorrow. BTW, Angel and I were supposed to go to Cebu today so I could go to Immigration for a visa extension, and apply for an ACR card. The weather service was predicting a very serious tropical storm, so we decided to go to Tacloban instead, not wanting to risk the ferry ride. It was a pleasant surprise. We got to the Immigration office at about 2:15 PM. No one was there except the office workers. I got my extension, and applied flor the card. The ACR will take about 3 weeks because they have to mail everything to Manila, but I am very glad it went so smoothly. We were out of there in less than an hour.

I'm still finding it a little hard to get used to how many things I can't buy here. A silly thing, but I tried to buy deodorant today. I like plain deodorant, not anti-perspirant. No such luck. Every product I looked at was a combo of both. I got my first haircut in P.I. yesterday. Every day is a new "first". It'll take time, but soon I'll be a full-fledged Pinoy.

Macman

[Legend]

Every day is a new "first". It'll take time, but soon I'll be a full-fledged Pinoy.

as long as that dos,nt involve dressing up and enetering a pageant, you,ll be alright.

[Macman]

Anthony, if that happens, it would most likely spell the end of pageants not only here in P.I., but all over the world. And rightly so.

Macman

[Surin Nix]

...When you tell us that you've eaten Balut, and liked it, then will you have achieved Pinoy status!



Nix

[Macman]

Thanks for the kind words, Dixon. That camera thing is a pretty good idea. I told Angel and she just laughed. You're right; it doesn't seem to bother her a bit.

Those are some great tips, Dazed. I mentioned the idea of a Fixer to Angel, and she's going to ask around. She has a lot of contacts, so I'm sure someone will know a reliable one. Thanks.

Well, we're off to dinner at Angel's uncle's house soon. It's his daughter's birthday. She's a sweet kid, and was probably the friendliest to me on my first visit. She's 16 today. She's a beauty too, and Angel is already lamenting about how quickly she's growing up. I'm not sure if it's the same throughout Asia, but birthdays are a big thing here, even for adults. Angel's sister's birthday is the 19th. She has a pretty big family and tons of friends, so I think I'll be spending a lot of time celebrating.

Oh, I wanted to tell you about the thing I thought might be of interest to BMs, mainly because it's a much-discussed topic here. Angel has a good friend named Pao. She's a ladyboy, but because she's a nurse, she can't dress as a woman. She's forced to wear her hair in an ambiguous manner; slightly long for a man and slightly short for a woman. Pao and I had chatted a few times on Skype when she visited Angel. She is extremely intelligent and has a great sense of humor. She also loves to debate. She came over to visit the other day, my first in person meeting with her. Angel's cousin, sister and goddaughter were here too, so Angel was chatting with them and Pao and I were having a lively conversation in the other room. Out of nowhere, she said, "If you don't mind me asking, when did you first realize that you were gay?" The famous "Are we gay" question put directly to me, not in the form of a question, but as a stated fact (the only question being "when".)!! It didn't bother me a bit because, like many BMs, I don't much care about labels. I don't consider myself gay, or even bi for that matter. The only reason for that is that I have no interest in men at all. The thought doesn't disgust me; I just don't have an interest. I know many will say I'm kidding myself, but that's okay. It's just not important. If something were to happen to this present relationship, I'm sure I'd go back to dating women exclusively. There are just too many problems accompanying a man/ladyboy relationship. I don't love Angel because she's an LB, but because she's Angel. Anyway, I told Pao that the question has come up many times in a forum in which I take part. I also told her just about what I just said here to you. She said that there are three stages of being gay: 1) denial, 2) confusion, and 3) acceptance. She feels I'm in the confusion stage. We got into a pretty deep conversation. She meant no offense and none was taken. It was actually fun. We had to discontinue our debate, with the promise of future discussions. I'm looking forward to it.

Well, Angel's uncle will be picking us up soon, so I'd better get ready. Thanks for listening, guys.

Macman