I've been reading Bob's blog since almost the beginning, 2 1/2 years now and along the way there has been a lot of good information on life over here in paradise. One of the best bits though related to marriage and talked about the inevitable "culture clash" that will happen between you and your wife but at some point in the marriage everything would hit a happy medium and you and your wife would begin to create your own unique culture. Well seemingly that has finally started to happen in my marriage with Venice. We were wed on July 10th, 2007 so it's been over 2 years now that we have been married and there were many rocky parts to the path … [Read more...]
Philippine Internet Comparison
September 30, 2009 By 49 Comments
As I've mentioned in the past, there always seems to be a lot of interest whenever I write about Internet speed and Internet providers here in the Philippines. In the past, I've used several different providers here, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Right now, I am kind of experiencing a "glut" of Internet, but I kind of like it. What do I mean by a "glut"? Well, I mean that I have an oversupply of Internet connections! If it's possible to have an "oversupply," that is. I wrote back at the beginning of August that I had found Internet Heaven here in the Philippines. Well, unfortunately, heaven was nice while it lasted, but … [Read more...]
I need a COCKTAIL!
September 29, 2009 By 32 Comments
While my friend, here in the Olongapo City area, was taking a prescribed medicine, he was informed by his Doctor that for the next thirty days he had to be “Cocktail Free”, a time out from consuming those wonderful beers and rum and cokes? Shock, was the only way to describe my reaction to that very sad news. So in simpatico I decided to join him in this month long cocktail fast! We still got together for lunch and things, but it was Ice Tea’s instead of the normal libations. Two weeks into this self imposed fast I came to the conclusion that, this was not one of my better ideas. What was I thinking? My liver functions were good, I only … [Read more...]
Sweet Juliet
September 29, 2009 By 5 Comments
Sweet Juliet Well, not a lot sweet about Juliet. She's a very naughty girl too. She's very jealous, can't stand it when my girlfriend touches me. Juliet, well she acts a lot like a monkey. No, I mean really, like a Filipino monkey cause that's what she is. Those that have followed my articles will probably already know that I'm the proud papa of a 12 pound monkey. I'm just guessing about the weight. When I first got her she was just a little under 10 pounds but she was skin and bones. Very thin and probably close to death. She couldn't maintain her body temperature. She was having chills on a regular basis. She's doing … [Read more...]
Freedoms Lost
September 28, 2009 By 36 Comments
Most of you, like anyone, I am sure, Cherish's his or her freedom and rights that we enjoy as citizens, and the law's that are designed to protect us right ? I got to thinking the other day as i was out tooling around, how much more i enjoy my life as a result of moving here to the Philippines. I recently saw where the police in California, made a young girl of, I forget maybe 7 or 8 years old, close down her lemonade stand for not having, get this, a business license, and a tax statement for earned income. What I mean is, here I feel free to do the things I want without someone holding out his hand for some sort of permit or license. What … [Read more...]
Luzon Flooding
September 28, 2009 By 50 Comments
Anybody who has been watching the news this past weekend is well aware that a real disaster has struck Metro Manila and the surrounding area. Tropical Storm Ondoy passed over Luzon, to the North of Manila, but the Manila area really got the brunt of the rain. Ondoy was not a Typhoon, but short of it. However, it really packed a punch when it came to rain! The rain in Manila on Saturday was actually even worse than New Orleans experienced during Katrina several years ago. In just a matter of a few hours, the Manila area got more than 16 inches of rain on Saturday, and more than 80% of the area was under water at the worst. Even as I … [Read more...]
The Compound Tower
September 27, 2009 By 16 Comments
Wouldn’t be able to spend all day on the Internet without The Tower. Sits about 10 ft from our front porch here in San Miguel, Jordan in Guimaras province; I call our place "The Compound". We have thirteen folks currently residing here. Oh, I could take a short walk to the local Internet cafes. Only 20 pesos an hour, not bad. But I wanted a high speed, super-duper, fast-as-lightning Internet connection where I plug in my MagicJack and talk to my Dad in Vegas or anyone else with a landline back in the States. A connection where I could whiz (lot of that goes around here in our little rural province) around the Internet with blinding speed. Went … [Read more...]
The Sarangani Bay 5,000 Artificial Reef Dome Project!
September 26, 2009 By 23 Comments
In early April 2005, Myself and my American friend John Heitz were having a couple of beers at my Cambridge Farm Bar after a day of diving! My bar is a place where many great ideas are born especially after a bit of worship to our favorite saint, San Miguel! During our dives we had seen all kinds of degradation to our local coral reefs both man made and natural but the organizations who were supposed to take care of such problems were doing nothing so me and John, on the spot, decided that if we wanted anything to by done to improve our local coral reefs then we would have to be the ones to initiate it! After a few more beers, the idea of the … [Read more...]
Now you can read me in the SunStar!
September 25, 2009 By 28 Comments
Just a quick announcement, everybody. Effective today, I have a weekly column in the SunStar Davao Newspaper. SunStar, I believe, is Davao's largest circulation newspaper, and I am happy to be featured there. My column is called "Mindanao Bob's Journal" and will appear every Friday in the SunStar Davao edition. For this week's column, it is basically just an introduction of who I am and how I got here. We'll get down to more serious issues next week. Unfortunately, this first column is not included in the Online edition of SunStar, but perhaps future columns will be. … [Read more...]
The Mighty Mosquito
September 25, 2009 By 87 Comments
You've heard the old saying that the pen is mightier than the sword, right? Well, over the past several weeks, I have come to find out that the mosquito may just be mightier than either the sword or the pen. Because of a mosquito, I have been sick for three weeks already. And, when I say sick, I am not just saying that I didn't feel well, I have been seriously ill. Three weeks ago, I thought I had a cold. I had sniffles, a slight fever and a sore throat. It took a week or so, but it passed. For a couple of days, I felt OK. Weak, but OK. Then, I had a couple of events to attend to one day - a breakfast with a friend, and then lunch … [Read more...]
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