Life In The Philippines

Bohol, Loboc - The Hanging Bridge

2009-10-25T15:55:00.000+08:00

It was such a beautiful day today that I just couldn't let myself sit in front of the computer. So I decided to put on a pair of shorts and take a trip to the Loboc Hanging Bridge. I didn't know just how many people would be there when we arrived. I'd guess there was somewhere between 30 - 40 people. I was charged 10 pesos to park and 20 pesos for entry. The bridge itself is approximately 20 metes high. It is essentially built with steel cables and woven strips of bamboo to walk across. The steel cables and the overall length of the bridge seem to give it a bit of a bounce and sway as your walking across. The Hanging Bridge was built in 1972 and is 37 years old. The steel cables were last replaced back in 2001 and look strong in appearance. Not that I'm any sort of expert in the longevity or durability of steel cables but at no time did I fear for my life. I inquired about the strips of bamboo and how often they were replaced. The told me every six months. It only took a couple of minutes to reach the other side and when we arrived there were a group of children playing musical instruments for donations along with the typical souvenir shop. I should also mention one of the coolest attractions about the place is a local who dehusks coconuts with his teeth. I guess he was off doing something else today but hopefully I will catch him next time around. Loboc is about a 30 minute drive from my place and I could spend all day just driving around and soaking up the beauty of this island.

Cebu to Bohol, The Friendship Bridge?

2009-10-18T14:14:00.002+08:00

I have recently stumbled onto some information of how the Philippines Government is planning to build a bridge from Cebu to Bohol. The bridge is supposed to be 90 kms/55miles long. The Economic Development Cooperation Fund of South Korea has apparently pledged a whopping three million dollars as a grant for a feasibility study provided they follow through with the actual building of the bridge after the study is complete.The competed project is supposed to cost 20 billion pesos and that is $427,350,427!!!

This is lunacy to me. I just can't think of a good reason for this. They claim it will be easier for them to bring water to Cebu from Bohol. I personally hope that they don't build this "friendship bridge". People who live in Cebu come to Bohol to get away and relax and take in the beauty of this island. If the bridge does successfully get built I think it will destroy this island and those who used to come here to vacation will have to find a less crowded island. I know I will.

Philippines - Inspiration and Messages of Hope

2009-10-12T22:50:00.001+08:00

One thing I love about the Philippines is, no matter how oppressive their government is and how poor most of the people are there are messages of hope gratified all over the country. I find either quotes from the bible or messages of peace everywhere. It can sometimes feel as if I'm living in the bible itself. Where I can just walk down any random street and find what seems like a message from God written in black paint on a brick wall. In America you'd be arrested for that. I have also seen what looks like the usual gang type graffiti as well which in my opinion is just something that was learned from American movies.

The Philippines consists of mostly Catholic's but whether your Catholic, Christian, or even Atheist the messages are still messages of being good and doing good and treating others as you'd like to be treated. Police officers in America used to be known as peace officers who were there to protect and serve the people. Now they are known as police enforcers who enforce the laws of the government.

I have personally paid police officers here in the Philippines to leave me alone. It seems like it takes a typhoon or a huge disaster before police realize we are all the same people and then they will roll up their sleeves and try to save someone from drowning. Until we learn that we are all the same and no uniform changes that then we will all continue to live with a hope for something better. The problem with the word "hope" is that there is no action in the word. Its not much different than wishing for things to change. Nothing will change until we change it. We have become so programmed to believe we have to do things the way we are told to do them.

As soon as someone does something different than what we are supposed to do, then that person is persecuted for their actions. We have to stop caring about what other people think of us. I myself am usually envied by people who are stuck in doing things the way they have been told to do them or hated by people(especially family members) and considered a loser for not conforming to the ways of an American life in America. I don't want to be American and I don't want to be Filipino. I just consider myself an earthling. I was born on earth. Lets stop thinking we are different and start living these messages of hope. Wrong is wrong even if its just a little bit wrong. Who can govern us better than us? I am just making a conscious decision to enjoy my time while we are on this planet. In the words of Mahatma Ghandi "there is no path to peace, peace is the path".

Bohol Tours

2009-09-16T05:32:00.007+08:00

I have been writing about the Philippines and all the places I have been in Bohol for awhile now. It never actually occurred to me that I would actually be offering tour packages but I have now started Bohol Tours here in the Philippines. When it comes to Americans offering tours in Bohol I think I’m the only one. Your tour guide will be a 100% genuine Filipino who I have known personally for over a year now. He has lived here in Bohol all his life and he has been giving tours to people from all over the world for a few years now. He isn’t too internet savvy so many of his clients are Filipino’s who come from the island of Manila. He speaks English well and I would describe him as a mild mannered family man. He owns the apartment I am renting and lives right next to me.

We will make sure you are booked into a hotel of your choice and can offer recommendations.

Destinations Include

Baclayon Church
Blood Compact Monument
Loay Local Industry
Hanging Bridge
The Python Sanctuary
The Butterfly Garden
The Chocolate Hills
Loboc Floating Restaurant
Tarsier Monkeys
Dauis Church
Daks and Gams Exotic Wildlife
Shell Museum
Alona Beach
Bohol Bee Farm
Hinagdanan Cave
Panglao Watch Tower

For Prices, Contact Information and even more information Just Click Here

How long can American's stay in the Philippines?

2009-08-27T19:07:00.006+08:00

A person can enter the Philippines with just a passport for 21 days. If your planning on staying longer than that you must go to the Bureau of Immigration and apply for an extension of your stay. Once you've completed your 21 days of entering the Philippines with your passport. You can apply for an extension of another 38 days. This first extension will cost you 3,030 pesos or $62.00. So with your 21 day entry and your 38 day extension that is a total of 59 days. When your 59 days are up you are now able to apply for 2 month extensions from here on up to 16 months.

After 6 months of stay you are now required to obtain an ECC-Emigration Clearance Certificate. I'm not sure at what point in time that an ECC was required for leaving the Philippines? It wasn't required the first time I left the Philippines but it is now required to have one after 6 months of stay. It's not too time consuming to get it but I would recommend not hiring anyone to help you get it taken care of or you will probably pay alot more money than necessary and your presence will be required anyways because they will take your fingerprints. It cost me about 500 pesos and the form was very easy to fill out.

When your 16 months is up you are required to leave the Philippines for at least 3 days and then you can return starting the whole process over again. Plane tickets can be a bit expensive so if you don't want to pay for a plane ticket all the way back to America you can just choose a country that is a little cheaper to fly to. I left the country after 12 months just because I wanted to get it out of the way. I decided to go to Hong Kong because it was cheaper. A ticket from the Philippines to Hong Kong cost me 11,246 pesos or $230.00. I'm not a huge fan of flying. I don't know what it is about planes but I can't stand being on them. The flight from the Philippines to Hong Kong was 2 hours and I booked a room in Hong Kong from a Cebu travel agent for 3 days at the Dorsett FarEast Hotel. The room cost me about 8,000 pesos or $164.00 for 2 nights. That also included breakfast and free bus travel to and from the hotel to the airport. The room was small and the bed was a little too firm but the shower was great. It had everything I needed and i wasn't there to do any shopping. There was a seven eleven and a McDonalds within walking distance. I watched some crazy Hong Kong TV and that was about it.

One thing you must be sure to have when returning to the Philippines from whichever country you decide to go to is an ongoing ticket. What I'm referring to is purchasing another plane ticket again leaving the country of the Philippines. When leaving Hong Kong I was asked if I had a plane ticket to leave the country of the Philippines. I was also asked once I arrived in Cebu. I made sure I had an ongoing plane ticket. Basically this shows them some evidence that you are not intending to live in the country and you do have plans to eventually leave. While I purchased my first plane ticket to Hong Kong I also bought a second plane ticket the same day. The second ticket I booked is again, leaving for Hong Kong but doesn't leave for about 6 months from now. I will also change the ticket to a later date about 6 months from now so I can stay a total of 16 months.

So I'm glad its over and I'm back home in the Philippines for another 16 months...
For more information on Immigration Fees click here for the Philippines Bureau of Immigration Fees.

From Bohol to Cebu

2009-08-08T13:08:00.007+08:00

It is great having an immigration office on this island because its never busy and I can always get in and out with no waiting. One thing that can not be obtained at the immigration office here as of yet is an ECC (Exit Visa). So that requires me to take a speed ferry to Cebu. When traveling from Bohol to Cebu there are two choices of speed ferries. There is Ocean Jet, or Weesam. I wasn't sure which ferry was better but I was recommended the Weesam Express. I booked 2 seats to leave at 7am. I booked under a promo sale and I paid 1000 pesos round trip for 2 people. It was 500 pesos per person. I also had to pay a boarding pass fee of 25 pesos. The trip itself was relatively comfortable. I should also mention that the weather was overcast the entire day when I went. It might be hotter on a very sunny day. There is a first class seating with air conditioning and I don't think it costs much more to book. There are no drinks or meals served but we got to watch a Bon Jovi concert on the way there and a bootlegged version of the transformer movie on the way back. We left at exactly 7am and arrived at 8:45.

We were able to accomplish everything at immigration have a quick lunch at SM mall and book a hotel in Hong Kong from the Cebu Travel Agent Office. When I arrived at the immigration office in Cebu I noticed they were checking everyone for fevers. The guard would hold a little scanner to your forehead to see if you were sick. I think it has something to do with the swine flu. It actually took longer to come back to Bohol than it did to go to Cebu. Just estimate the trip to be somewhere from an hour and a half to two hours. It was my first time in Cebu and I didn't spend much time site seeing. In fact every trip I took in Cebu was less than 10 minutes. Everything I needed was relatively close to the Ferry. No one tried to overcharge me and it was a good trip. If you do need to go for immigration reasons then make sure you take the early boat out.

Skin bleaching in the Philippines

2009-07-26T21:52:00.006+08:00

So apparently people are interested to know about why and how Filipina's bleach their skin. It really isn't any different than a white girl using a tanning bed. The very white skinned Filipina's are referred to as Mestiza. I find this interesting because Mestiza is a spanish feminin of Mestizo. Mestizo is a Spanish term that was used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin America. So as the white American girls are laying on the beach working on that awesome tan. The Filipina's are bleaching their skin and hiding from the sun. Walking under an umbrella on a hot sunny day. I have looked at some of these soaps to see just what the active ingredient is in the soap that whitens the skin. I expected to find one common ingredient among all the soaps but to my surprise, there doesn't seem to be just one common magic ingredient. I find most of these soaps are actually made right here in the Philippines. The ingredient content of the soap displayed in the picture contain Calcium Carbonate, USP and Magnesium Oxide. USP seems to be associated with Hydroquinone which does appear to actually whiten skin but some soaps appear to contain a bleaching ingredient that no other soap has. I imagine its just a cocktail of some kind that gives the soap company the ability to have a magic ingredient that no else can say they have. I've never personally used the soap nor do I intend to. There is a bar soap made in Cebu that I really like from the Lacto Bacillus PAFI Techno Resources Corp. I won't go in to all the details of the contents of this particular soap. I will say that I would certainly take some with me if I were to go back to America. If you're interested to learn more about it then you can do so by clicking here.

Paypal in the Philippines

2009-07-06T15:54:00.007+08:00

One way I get my dollars here to the Philippines is to have them sent via paypal to the Philippines. Paypal is available in the Philippines and I can send, receive, and withdraw funds from paypal depositing them into my bank account. Not all banks here are paypal friendly at the moment. I have heard that paypal works with Banco De Oro(BDO) Bank in the Philippines but I use Union Bank of the Philippines. I would recommend using Union Bank simply because I know it works there. When signing up with paypal in the Philippines they will require you to provide a bank code number. I am providing a list of bank code numbers for Philippines banks. It usually takes me about 3 days to make a withdrawal to my bank account. You will also have to verify your physical address. Click the picture to see a shot of the fees for paypal Philippines. Click the banner and sign up...

ASIA UNITED BANK - 011020011
BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS - 010030015
BANCO DE ORO (& EPCIB) - 010530667
BANK OF COMMERCE - 010440016
BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS - 010040018
CITIBANK N.A. - 010070017
DEVT BANK OF THE PHILS - 010590018
LANDBANK OF THE PHILS - 010350025
MAYBANK OF THE PHILS - 010220016
METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST CO - 010269996
PHIL BANK OF COMMUNICATION - 010110016
PHIL TRUST COMPANY - 010090039
PHIL NATIONAL BANK - 010080010
PRUDENTIAL BANK - 010150018
PHIL VETERANS BANK - 010330016
RIZAL COMML BANKING CORP - 010280014
SECURITY BANK & TRUST CO - 010140015
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK - 010050011
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK - 010299995
UNION BANK OF THE PHILS - 010419995
UNITED OVERSEAS BANK - 010270189

Peso vs Dollar

2009-07-04T05:25:00.006+08:00

I get the occasional email now and then from random people who want to know how much money they need to live here. It's not a question I can just throw a number out to answer. I have noticed an increase of visitor's to my blog who seem to be looking for a place to escape America due to the declining economy. So I decided to give a quick post about how much I spend on living in the Philippines. So I'll put it like this. Many Filipino's make $2.00 a day and live here. Could an American live off of $2.00 a day? That sounds great to the average American but you have to consider that most Filipino's live in large families and use the money to support everybody under one roof. The dollar as I'm writing this at the moment is worth 48 pesos. $100 would then convert to 4,800 pesos. Sounds like alot but what can 4,800 pesos buy? Well let me try to make this easier for the mind of an American. Last time I was in America I think a can of coca-cola costs about .75 cents. That same can would cost you about 21 pesos here which is .44 cents USD. A pack of cigarettes is around $5.00 in the US but here on my island you can get a whole carton of cigarettes for 300 pesos which is $6.23 USD.
My apartment I'm living in at the moment is a 2 bedroom 1 bath. Its two story and has all the space I need. I am paying 7000 pesos/$145 a month. I then have to pay for water and electric. My last water/electric bill was 3,500php/$72 and I run my air conditioner constantly because its hot here. I live in a gated community and its quite and I've never had any trouble with anyone living here. Eating here is another matter. Most of the foreigners I know living here seem to eat much like myself. I'm lucky enough to have a Pizza Hut and a McDonald's here and frequent them often.
How Much is a Pizza at Pizza hut?
My last meal there was a medium pepperoni pizza, 1 order of garlic bread, 1 personal pan, 2 Pepsi's and I paid about 550pesos/$11.43USD.

I spend about 150 pesos/$3.12 to fill up my motorcycle.
So as long as you can keep dollars coming in to the country you can live relatively cheap providing that the economy in the US doesn't collapse all together.

I hope this helps give you an idea of what your going to need...

My Philippine Puppy

2009-06-23T13:55:00.007+08:00

I just recently had to upgrade my PC. I think the Philippines can be very hard on a computer due to the heat and the dust that collects. My PC was in need of an upgrade considering it was going on 5 years of ownership. I just ended up getting a new motherboard and processor which seemed to do the trick. I also decided to give this blog an upgrade. I know its a little buggy still but hopefully I can iron out the wrinkles here shortly.

I woke up early one morning to drive down to the fish market. You can get some really great deals on some very fresh fish if you can get out of bed. As I was driving I realized I took a wrong turn and stopped my motorcycle to go back from whence I came. As I was just about to head back I noticed there was a little puppy on the side of the road. My wife has been wanting a puppy for awhile now but I have been against the idea because I prefer to see a dog have more room than what I can provide at the moment. I always see these animals tied up with about 3 feet of available movement. So anyways, my wife gets off the motorcycle and grabs this puppy and get back on like nothing just happened. So I look at her and I say "what are you going to do with that?". She tells me she will take care of it. The puppy doesn't move or make a sound. It just sits there resting on her lap as she sits on the motorcycle. So against my better judgement I drove back home with little guy who is in poor health. I'm not sure where that puppy even came from. There were no homes along this highway and there were no other dogs that even resembled this one. I'm not sure if he would have lived through the day if we hadn't taken him.
We made sure to have the vet here check him out and we got him his shots. He had a nasty case of worms as well. I think he's all better now and he is like a completely different animal. He is full of energy and I spend alot of my time trying to train him to pee outside. I wish he wasn't so time consuming but he is. So here is a picture of my crazy dog "Barker".
More to come...

The Transforming of America

2009-04-22T13:31:00.005+08:00

I haven't been to America in some time now but I do still look into what is happening in my home country. It seems as if Americans are becoming less free everyday all in the name of the war on terror. I find myself very concerned about this. It actually affects my sleep. I often wonder about whether or not the Jews saw it coming. I mean one day they were just living their lives in Germany and then the next thing they knew they were all living in prison camps. I've personally been through the airports and had been treated like I was some kind of terrorist just because I came from the Philippines. When I see videos such as this one, I am completely amazed with the scare tactics being used on anybody and everybody. I really wanted to post this video because this is a guy who understands that he does have rights and lives in a free country. I think most people would have given in and submitted to the will of the officers and let them search their property. Most Americans today are simply uneducated about what rights they do have and what the laws are in their own country. They have just been so absorbed with movies, football, and the night life that they have all become lazy on important issues in the world. Just letting the people at the top run the show while those people at the top work in the shadows to turn their world into some kind of Nazi Germany. This is the kind of video you won't see on mainstream news. These are the kinds of things that are happening everywhere all across America. I see on average at least one video a week of someone being harassed or beaten by officers of the law. Check it out and draw your own conclusion..

Loboc - The Floating Restaurant

2009-04-17T00:22:00.007+08:00

I am officially a whopping 30 lbs/13.6 kg heavier than when I arrived here in September of 2008. It really seems like just a couple of months ago I was complaining about how I couldn't find anything to eat in this country. I always thought I was supposed to be a larger person but just never ate to my potential. I took a trip today to the famous Loboc floating restaurant. We actually ran into a couple earlier who just happened to make the exact plans we did so we thought we would hang out.

The Loboc Floating Restaurant in my opinion wasn't bad. We caught the last boat out at 2pm. I enjoyed it because it wasn't over crowded and the food was actually decent. We paid 300 pesos per head. That included one meal and one beverage. I should mention that they were quick to charge us 30 pesos for any additional beverages. I enjoy the Loboc river because they are very good at keeping the river clean. They provided us with some live entertainment. I describe them as atmosphere music. It wasn't too loud or obnoxious. It was just something nice to listen to as we spent an hour conversing and snapping off some pictures of the scenery. In my conclusion I would definitely recommend scheduling it in your things to do list if your coming for a visit.

The Inevitable Ending

2009-04-14T02:19:00.006+08:00

I often think about how everything in life has an ending and I can't help but think about all I have in this life and its inevitable ending. I try to absorb as much as I can here in the Philippines although, I often get so caught up in my work routine that I forget to go outside and enjoy it. Like everyone else I still find myself a slave to money. I try to imagine what it might be like to be completely free from money. Living off of land I own and living in a house I built on it. Growing my own food and living completely off of the land. It seems strange to think that this sort of life was one time completely normal. I have no idea where the food I buy from my grocery store comes from and have no idea what chemicals are in the food I'm eating. I think we've lost something of ourselves with the convenience of all our technology. I love the internet and my cell phone just as much as the next guy and some would argue that its brought us closer because we can stay in touch with one another. I'm not sure I agree with that at least on every level. We are at a point where one job just can't support a home in today's economy and we spend so much time at work that the people we work with are seen more than family members. I don't know what the answer to this world's problems are but something seems very wrong with this world. I just want to see what its like to live without the system we are all so dependent upon. A system that seems to be failing us all more everyday. There are so many people living here in the Philippines on so little I don't see why I can't live the same way. So I'm working to remove myself from the desk so I can see what the world is really like.

the godfather

2009-04-08T03:03:00.005+08:00

What is it about power and control over others that changes people from being one of us? A suppression that is somehow good for the benefit of the people. Where 1% of the world hold 90% of the money and meet behind closed doors to decide the fate of the whole. I think the devil has his fingers deep in all these governments that certainly don't speak for its people. We have police that are beating up and even shooting kids for minor traffic violations. There was a time when police were referred to as peace officers but now they are law enforcement. Enforcing their law or their will upon us. These laws that exist because we believe they do. We all know right and wrong.

I don't think any of us are going to make it out of this world alive. So if I'm right and we are all going to die then I propose we stand up for the things that right and good no matter if we are threatened with the loss of life. This world is never going to be what it could and should be as long as we continue to read tragic stories and choose not to be involved simply because the problem isn't at our door. Wrong is wrong no matter where its happening or who its happening to. We all need to speak up and be involved before the problems are on our doorsteps and its too late.

I know this isn't my usual sort of blog posting. I'm ok with that.
I haven't taken any photos in a few weeks. The baby in this photo isn't mine. I'm not really good with baby's. I am the godfather of this one though. I don't entirely understand the concept of being a godfather. I don't have to do anything and there are no papers I have to sign to be one. So I guess I'm ok with that too..

A Place to Plant My Flag

2009-03-16T11:27:00.005+08:00

I've discovered this tiny little bar called "Martins". I really didn't think much of it from the outside but it has a really nice atmosphere inside. I've been their twice now and have even been so bold as to participate on stage with the live local bands. I like it because the music is good and I can still have a conversation without having to yell something like "what did you say?". I wouldn't say I'm a bar person really. I have just seen too many instances of macho ego's fueled by alcohol. So far I haven't had any problem with a single person on this whole island. I think that's pretty awesome.

I'm still driving around and hunting for a good piece of land to buy. Of course, everyone wants beach front property but I'm not even going to look at it. I know it's the most expensive land for sale here. I just want something away from the city where the air is clean and there is a whole lot of nothing to do. I really want to start some kind of farm out here and grow my own food. So far I have found some land as cheap as 60 pesos per square meter. That's pretty darn cheap and I believe I can find even cheaper. I'm thinking about taking a look for some land in Sagbayan. Filipino's I talk to about buying land don't seem to believe me when I tell them I want to live so far away from the city. Sure it will be nice to go to the city and get things I won't be able to get living so far away but I'm really focusing on learning to live off of the land. I've never done it before but I will...

The Interested are Interesting

2009-03-13T13:02:00.006+08:00

I have just decided at this moment that I will be putting more attention into this blog. I've have only been looking at it when ever I feel like looking at it. The reason I will be putting more time in it is because of you the readers. To my surprise, every time I log into this blog I see comments waiting to be published. A couple of months ago I switched my settings so that all comments must be approved by myself before being published. I always forget to log in to see if anyone is even reading these posts of mine. So I will be checking everyday now. I don't have a problem letting people post leave comments about whatever they want to comment about but I had to switch it because someone did something to my comments and google reported my blog as an attack site... But I fixed all of that. Yay me!

I'm starting to think that majority of my readers are not people interested in visiting this place at all. I think the majority of my readers are Filipino's who are interested in how I see the Philippines. I have been trying to write about things to do here for foreigners and what they might expect to see based on my experiences. I try to do that without sugar coating anything but often feel like I'm selling a product when writing about places like the bohol bee farm. In my mind, for the foreigner who travels here it should be about experience and as a foreigner who lives here I do my best to spend as little money as possible. I love living here and I have a great time doing it without spending a load of money. I do that through the Filipino people and the foreigners who live and visit here. The tourist attractions here are great but you don't need to empty your pockets on all of them. The best thing about this place is the people. In my country, I find most people are stuck in a shell. They are afraid of expressing themselves because they might somehow be seen as weird or different. So they do what everyone else does and keep to themselves. I feel like I can really be myself here and there is a certain comfort in that. If I had to choose a country to spend the last of my days in it would certainly be here. That's my truth..

The Bohol Bee Farm in the Philippines

2009-03-08T09:54:00.008+08:00

So just where the hell have I been?

Well I have been here in the Philippines and I now have a new apartment. I'm living in a much nicer place here and I am on a mission to secure a good piece of land so that I can start building a house. So why did it take me so long to post something? That's a good question and I don't really have an answer to that. After my friend died I just didn't feel like writing. I have been active and am still enjoying this place. I think this island is a lot like moving in at disney world. Not everyone will see things in the same light but not everyone sees the same art even when standing next to each other. One of my favorite things to do here is to just hop on my motorcycle and drive all over the island and stop at places I have never seen and talk to people I have never met. I really do love it..
I have these ideas in my head. I can't decide if I should actually share them with you guys or keep them secret. I sometimes feel as if I were to even dare speak them aloud to anyone that perhaps they would not manifest into my reality. Maybe another time..
So today I will talk a little about the Bohol Bee Farm. I was curious to check it out. Its actually only about a 20 minute drive from where I live. When I arrived I noticed a small work shop where about 10 ladies sat and made handbags and assorted things. They have really done a nice job. Everything is natural and they even have their own small worm farm. You walk down a stair case where they have a restaurant setup with lots of honey dishes. The restaurant over looks the ocean and its very beautiful. They even have rooms you can rent out and stay for the weekend if you like. They have tour packages among other things. Here is a link to their website http://www.boholbeefarm.com/ and you can check all that out for yourself if you like. It is just a really nice place to relax and take in some beauty. They grow lots of their own herbs and grasses. I noticed they even have butterfly pupae that hangs from the leaves of the trees. You can watch butterfly hatch right in front of your eyes.

Death in the Philippines

2009-01-08T17:40:00.007+08:00

This has been a tough week for me here in the Philippines. I have never really had to deal with death. I know people who have died and even family members and friends of mine have died but I've always managed to somehow live far away from them whenever something like that happened. On January 3rd 2009 my very good friend R.R. died on impact when his motorcycle slammed into an illegally parked bus. The bus driver was fined 250 pesos. R.R. was like a little brother to me and I miss him very much. We lived together under the same roof and I have countless pictures of us together as I took him with me everywhere I went. He was 18 years old, polite, and always smiling. My mind is still having trouble believing that he is gone. I feel like I'm stuck in a dream that I just can't wake up from. So he is having his wake now and will be buried on January 11th. This is my first wake in the Philippines and his family stays with his body for 7 days. I'm not Catholic and I'm not a member of his family so I stay in the parking area just outside. Anyone is welcome to go inside to pay their respects but I just don't have it in me to see him in his coffin. I think if he is watching then he knows I'm there even if I don't go in the room. Seven day's seems like a long period of time to have a wake but it is the tradition here. His family members seem to have some strange fear that his ghost may haunt them. One of them even told me that because he died with his mouth and eyes open that it was a sign he would take someone with him. I try not to contribute to such superstitions because I don't want to add fuel to the fire. I can honestly say R.R. was my best friend here in the Philippines and I think the world was a better place with him in it.

My Day at Valencia Falls

2008-12-26T19:41:00.005+08:00

Just when I thought that I had seen all the tiny multicab's and jeepney's in this country I found a new variety in the town of Valencia. It took me almost an hour to get there from my place and it rained until I arrived. Its a fairly small town and looks about the same as the rest of this island. We spent the day at some kind of resort that was probably very nice when it was built but appeared to have no one maintaining it. It was right on the ocean. Swimming pools and even a water fall for the kids to play in.

I was surprised at the amount of people there were considering the size of the town. I met an Australian who invited me there to enjoy the day with him and his family. He spent the entire day telling me about his marital problems and how he thinks his wife is cheating on him while he is away but has no evidence to prove such a thing. Being a foreigner I can understand his need to discuss such things with someone such as myself because we both speak the same language. Not being able to speak the language here and having reasons for such suspicion is probably not the best feeling to have. I listened to him for the whole day. Things didn't look good from my perspective but I told him I hoped things would get better. Him and his wife hardly communicated the whole time we were there. So it was a somewhat awkward day but my wife got to do some swimming and we ate their spaghetti. When it comes to Filipina's deceiving their loved ones I have learned a lot about this and plan to write more on this topic in the near future. Stay tuned..

Christmas in the Philippines

2008-12-26T01:19:00.006+08:00

I know there are millions of people all writing about the same thing today. So my post will be short and to the point. I just spent my first Christmas in the Philippines and besides the holiday displays and the music playing in the local grocery store there just isn't anything here that resembles Christmas. It was another hot and sunny day. I seem to post less and less these days because there just isn't much going on here. There is a kind of comfort in that. It just seems as if everything has a lazy and comfortable feeling to it and as they say "no news is good news". I should also add that there are a lot of fireworks going off this time of year here. I haven't seen any spectacular displays of fireworks. They are more like small sticks of dynamite that make your shoulders shrug a little every time you here one. I have plans to go to some water falls and swim in the morning and hope to bring back some pictures. I hope who ever you are and where ever you are that your all having fun. Happy holidays!!

Staying Healthy in the Philippines

2008-12-21T07:37:00.004+08:00

Being a foreigner in the Philippines can make you extremely lazy. You are most likely not going to be doing any physical labor when you get here and if you stay for a long period of time then make sure you have something to keep your body healthy. One thing about the Philippines is that they have terrific massages everywhere but just spending all your time on the beach and being massaged everyday sure doesn't do much for your body. So find something to exercise those muscles...
I had this neighbor who lived down the street from me and he was American as well. I say "was" because he died yesterday. I only met him once and he invited me to his home to hang out and share stories of our adventures here. I never got around to actually visiting him. I don't really have any good reason for not going over to his home and now I have missed the opportunity all together. I knew he had a wife and that he had been living here about 15 years. When I had heard about his death I decided to go to his home and see if there was anything I could do for his wife. I didn't know if she was alone or had family to help see her through such a tragedy. I went to her home and was greeted by her brother. He was polite and invited me in. He told me that they had just recently adopted a baby. I'm not sure how old he was but I'd guess he was in his 50's or early 60's. He died of a stroke and was overweight. As I was just about to start my motorcycle up and leave she had arrived home and she looked at me and said "my husband died this morning". I could see her trying to hold back the tears and I knew there was nothing I could say to make her feel better but I felt as if I was doing the right thing by just making an appearance and letting her know if she needed anything I was just down the road. I'm comforted to know that she has family to be with her through her grieving.
In just the last month I have been real conscious of my health and have been taking action to make sure I don't end up getting too weak or unhealthy from the lack of physical exercise. I have been very disciplined and I'm certainly no arnold schwarzenegger but I'm healthier now than when I arrived here.
My point is.. Don't let your body go without any exercise or your body might just let you go.

Imitating America

2008-12-13T12:09:00.009+08:00

With Christmas just around the corner there are all kinds of mini celebrations and fiesta's going on all over the place. The malls are a common place for local entertainment to put on a show. It reminds me of when I was a kid in the 80's. Going to the mall to watch Rick Springfield sing to all the teenage girls. Music is a huge part of the Filipino culture although, in my opinion it seems to be becoming more American music than Filipino music. The picture was taken at a mall I happened to be in yesterday. Not one song those guys played was in their own language. They only sung American songs. Entertainment is entertainment no matter what language you do it in. I'm just amazed at how strong the American influence is on the rest of the world. I am very lazy when it comes to learning the language here. I blame Filipino's for that. Why should I learn the language if everyone is going to speak to me in English here?
I remember hearing all kind of things about the Philippines before I came here. I remember hearing that I could buy name brand clothes very cheap. The truth is that there is a lot of imitation goods being sold here. I don't know who is making these clothes but you will see them being sold everywhere. I actually saw a man wearing a shirt with a Tommy Hilfiger name on the front and a Shell gas station logo on the back. Same thing goes for the shoes. You can find what appear to be an expensive pair of Air Jordan's for a very cheap price but they just look like them. They are not real and they certainly aren't made with the same quality. I often wonder if Filipino's know the Abercrombie shirts they are wearing are not genuine Abercrombie? Cell phones are being sold and it can be very difficult to tell the original from the fake. I can go on and on about these imitation products but I write these things simply because when I lived in America I only heard about what people told me but now I'm living it and I see for myself..

Law Enforcement in the Philippines

2008-12-11T20:13:00.004+08:00

Something you might want to consider when visiting the Philippines is just how corrupt the police can be. As a foreigner you may just be thought of as an easy target. Usually there will be no problems for you as long as you are not the owner of a vehicle. If you ever decide to buy yourself some transportation you might want to avoid the police if you can help it. I have dealt with them on a few occasions. I personally consider the police in Manila much worse than in Bohol. I think that is just because in Manila there are more of them. Its very common here when driving a motorcycle to not wear any helmets. It may be the law to wear one but the majority don't. I would recommend following all laws and wearing required protection for your safety. Unless of course you're me...
Despite all the times I have been pulled over and swindled by the police here I still to this day do not wear a helmet. I remember in Manila having my first experience with corruption. I was signaled to pull over by the man in blue and he was telling me all the trouble I would have paying the fine and made it sound as if it was going to be a very long process. He then offered me an alternative of simply paying him 1000 pesos. So I gave him the cash and he shook my hand and smiled and quickly left the scene of the crime. So maybe I should wear my helmet? It just drives me crazy that as I'm being pulled over for no helmet and that every driver who passes me on the side of the road, while I'm being robbed by the police is not wearing a helmet. I'm targeted simply because I'm white. So I continue to drive without wearing one. Bohol is fairly small and they seem to pull people over here in the same locations everyday. So I simply don't drive down those roads and avoid them and so far that is working well for me.

Will a Filipina really be happy in America?

2008-12-08T02:16:00.001+08:00

I see all these people in the Philippines who dream about going to America and I can understand that because they think they are going to have some kind of better life that they couldn't possibly have here in the Philippines. I'd be curious to hear from the Filipina living abroad of their opinion's on whether or not they feel like they have a better quality of life in America? I imagine that many of them miss living in the Philippines. Some may get to America and see it may not be exactly what they had hoped it would be but are making adjustments to their new homes. I personally choose to be here because I see the Philippines as America used to be in some aspects. I love America because I'm American and I love the American people. I won't go into too much detail about all the things I dislike about my country because this would be a very long post. I will also add that every country has its problems which usually stem from its government. So here is just a small piece of my disappointment with my country. I constantly see large corporations swallowing up local stores and these corporations turn around and cut jobs making the people employed with them work twice as hard to make their minimum wage that hardly pays their American bills. So then the large corporations start to grow and expand becoming greedy and decide to move out of the country to third world countries in Asia or wherever so they don't have to pay dollars they can pay less money using slave labor camps and they also save money by not being emission compliant and polluting those third world countries with their waste. Mean while, they ship their products back to America and sell them to Americans at high dollar costs and the American jobs slowly disappear. I can't help but think to myself do we really need all these governments keeping people poor and starting wars with everyone? What happened to countries protecting and caring for its people? They certainly don't speak for us..
I don't believe things are going to get better in government. I hope and pray that one day the people will say enough is enough and take their countries back from these pirates. I'm pretty sure we the people could do a pretty good job running the place and feeding our own. I just don't know what it is going to take to get us to that point.
I know and I see a lot of good people in this world despite my disappointment in the system and no matter how bad it gets please never lose that beautiful human nature you all possess. Like I always say change has to start with just one person so let it be you.

Mobile blogging test

2008-12-07T01:23:00.003+08:00

This is my first posting from my cell phone. I can now blog anywhere from the philippines without actually being at a computer. For those of you who aren't familiar with mobile blogging, My Sony Ericsson has a built in blogging function which will upload posts to blogger.com directly. It took me awhile to figure out how to set it up but it actually works. Wow! Being relatively new to the blogging world I had no idea it was so time consuming but I'm going to stick it out awhile and see where the road takes me.