As many of you probably already know, I live on the Island of Mindanao, which is in the Southern Philippines. While Mindanao has the reputation of being a dangerous place that should be avoided, that is not my experience at all! As a matter of fact, every person that I know who makes a trip to Mindanao loves the place by the time they finish their trip! I wanted to share a video of a song called "Wow Mindanao" which is really a favorite of mine. The song is in Tagalog, but there are some nice scenes of Mindanao, and a really catchy tune! Give it a look! [youtube zvxZHF6SI7g] … [Read more...]
Renewing My Driver's License
March 31, 2008 By 11 Comments
When we first came to the Philippines, I went to the LTO (Land Transportation Office), showed them my California license, paid some money and was given an 'official receipt' that was good for six months for the real thing, and told to come back for the hard copy. About six months later, the hard copy came. Pretty painless. The next time I needed to renew I had moved to another town and also needed to change the address. This was a little more involved, and they had added a 'medical certificate' to the process. For the medical certificate, I was sent to the Provincial Hospital where I paid 10 pesos and was given a number. When my number was called, … [Read more...]
A shocking e-mail!
March 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Over the past 2 weeks you may have noticed that I have not participated on the site nearly as much as normal. I have tried to keep active, but something happened a couple of weeks ago that kept me from spending as much time on-site as I usually do, and has really monopolized my time a great deal. During Holy Week, one morning I was checking my e-mail as I do every morning after I wake up. I usually have several dozen e-mails waiting for me (usually more than that, I guess), and this particular morning was no exception. When I got about halfway through the various e-mails, though, I got a shock! The next e-mail to read was a mail sent to me … [Read more...]
Immigration Requirements
March 29, 2008 By 64 Comments
Today's guest blog is from Bruce Linder. Bruce has been living in Davao a few months now, and has his own blog, American in Davao. Bruce notified me of some changes in residency requirements that he came across when he recently visited the Bureau of Immigration. Here is what Bruce had to say: Today when I was at the Bureau of Immigration I recieved information to change status to get residency here in the Philippines by marriage. They have reduced the requirements and made it easier. Here is the information from the document MCL-08 NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS/PETITIONERS To avoid the summary denial/delay of your application/petition, please … [Read more...]
Happy Anniversary
March 28, 2008 By 9 Comments
I am a very lucky man to have made fantastic friends in Davao City from all across the world. My German friend and fellow LIP columnist is one of those along with his beautiful wife Rose, whom this week have celebrated 25 years of wedded bless. I was very lucky to be able to attend a celebration at their beautiful home, which by coincidence is six metres away from me. Along with Klaus beautiful mother Mutti and his his godfather Maurice a very very long-term resident of Mindanao and his wife Alicia Cowan were also in attendance who also live above me, and I never knew that was Klaus godfather. Many of the German community were in attendance … [Read more...]
The Jeepney
March 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment
[youtube HcTb7BepNYg] The Jeepney is a quintessential mode of transportation in the Philippines. Check this video to see what the Jeepney is! … [Read more...]
The Coffee Craze in Davao
March 28, 2008 By 32 Comments
Davao City has turned into sort of the Seattle of the Philippines. Seattle, Washington is where Starbucks got started and is sort of the Coffee Capital of the USA, and that is how Davao is here in the Philippines. Surprisingly, there are a lot of coffee shops here in Davao. I have told Feyma, and others recently that I would estimate that there are at least 100 Coffee Shops here in Davao. And, I'm not talking about hole in the wall type places, I am talking about classy places where you can get a world class cup of coffee, some good food, and see a lot of nice people. And, you can get more than just the normal cup of coffee too! Some places … [Read more...]
Lazy summer days, BUT… .
March 28, 2008 By 11 Comments
Many of us have different dreams how to spend lazy summer days. For some, a memorable vacation is to go and spend it with the whole family at the beach for a day or even longer. The bonding and sharing can make any place beautiful and memorable. Many of my ex pat friends want to be alone... - even, and that's my experience, this period of time for laughter and merriment strengthens relationship with one another... :neutral: Others say: "When you are in business you tend to overwork yourself, especially if you are alone and you have to do everything alone or you have to try everything alone. Closing shop or leaving your business with trusted … [Read more...]
It's summer!
March 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The seasons work a little differently here in the Philippines. In Northern areas you have rainy season and dry season. Here in Davao, where I live, the weather is roughly the same year around. The amount of rain we get here is roughly equal every month of the year, with slight variations. In the Visayas and Luzon, though, there are definite wet and dry seasons, and you might want to plan your travel around those seasons. Traveling all the way to the Philippines to stay inside where it is dry is not a great vacation! photo credit: olasisucsd One thing that is interesting, though, is that Summer here runs from around the beginning of … [Read more...]
Lazy summer days
March 27, 2008 By 4 Comments
You don't get anything for nothing in life. This is the main motto of our life. This is the epigraph of our biography - whether we like it or not. Allow me to quote the bible again: According to the book of Genesis, after God created the universe in six days, he rested on the seventh day. in other words,He took a vacation. Si if God rested after working for the some period of time, there is no reason, why man, who is finite and limited in his physical strength, should not take a vacation. Hurray, doing nothing is really something. I hear already many of my ex pat mates saying: We have vacation all day long, since we are living in the Philippines. … [Read more...]
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