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Is anybody minding the store?

September 3, 2010 By MindanaoBob 84 Comments
Somebody did a poor job when labeling those boxes!

Imagine this situation, if you would.  Your brother just died in a foreign country, far away from his home.  You are mourning deeply for his loss, quite sad.  When your brother died, it was under unfortunate circumstances which caused an uproar, only making your loss more painful. Your brother's body is shipped back home from the foreign land where he died.  You and your family have made all of the arrangements for a nice funeral and you are hoping to get over it and hopefully get back to a normal life as time passes.  After the body is repatriated, though, you and the family open the coffin and the body inside is not your brother after … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Daily Life, Expats, Filipino Culture, Living in The Philippines, Manila

Major, major results

September 1, 2010 By MindanaoBob 102 Comments
Miss Venus Raj, 5th Runner Up, Miss Universe

For those of you who don't know, Miss Philippines scored a big result last week when she placed 5th place in the Miss Universe pageant.  I don't normally follow beauty pageants, but I am very happy for Miss Maria Venus Raj, the 4th Runner Up in the Miss Universe contest last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Venus is quite a beauty, I must say.  I first saw her a couple of weeks ago when Feyma told me about her.  Feyma told me that Venus Raj, the contender for Miss Universe was half Indian.  It's true, Venus was born in 1988, the daughter of a Filipina mother and an Indian father.  Shortly after Feyma told me about her, I saw her on a TV commercial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Daily Life, Entertainment, Living in The Philippines

The Manila Massacre

August 30, 2010 By MindanaoBob 97 Comments
That's the hostage taker in the bus - couldn't he have been taken at this point?

Last year, we had the Maguindanao Massacre, where the Ampatuan family allegedly murdered around 60 people, mostly from the Mangudadutu clan in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao Province.  The legal part of that massacre is still unresolved, but now we have another massacre to talk about, the Manila Massacre.  I'm talking about last week's hostage situation in Manila where a bus load of tourists were taken hostage, and many ended up dead by the time that the whole scenario was played out. Oh, people are not calling this the Manila Massacre, that's my name for it.  I mean why not, I think it's fitting. I am sure that almost all readers of this … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Crime in the Philippines, Filipino Culture, Living in The Philippines

I passed the test! With new Podcast!

August 27, 2010 By MindanaoBob 41 Comments
Oh no! Test Time!

Today, I'll be sharing a new podcast with you, but that will have to wait until the end of the story. It's been a while since I did a podcast, so it feels good to put one up again. Over the past 3 weeks, I have been having examinations as part of my Bisaya Class.  For new readers who don't know, Bisaya (or Cebuano) is the main language used in the Central and Southern parts of the Philippines. As the name implies, Cebuano originated in Cebu, but much of the Visayas and Mindanao speak this language, or a variation of it.  For the past 3 years I have been taking Cebuano classes and learning to speak the language. The textbook that I am using … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Communication, Daily Life, Expats, Filipino Culture, Language, Living in The Philippines, Podcast

Updated: Warranties in the Philippines

August 25, 2010 By MindanaoBob 96 Comments
Warranty Issues in the Philippines

When buying a major item like a car, a new PC or an appliance, most of us always consider what kind of warranty is being offered.  The longer the warranty, the more likely we are to consider buying the item if it meets our needs. In my time living in the Philippines, more than a decade already, I can recall dealing with warranty issues three different times. My first warranty experience in the Philippines involved the warranty on my automobile, a 2000 Mitsubishi Adventure AUV (Asian Utility Vehicle).  Anytime you purchase an new automobile, invariably there will be things that need adjustments, or parts that may fail within the warranty … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Business, Daily Life, Davao, Expats, Filipino Culture, Financial, Living in The Philippines, Warranty in the Philippines

The Mieles and the Martins

August 23, 2010 By MindanaoBob 34 Comments
Bob & Feyma Martin with Juanito Miele

This weekend was a great LiP get together!  One of our popular LiP writers, John Miele, and his family came to Davao for the weekend.  John was accompanied by his wife, Rebecca and their son Juanito. John came to Davao to sort of enjoy a get-away from the city, and all that is associated with it.  John and Rebecca chose a great time to visit Davao, because this past weekend was the climax of the famous Davao Kadayawan Festival!  John and Rebecca, along with Juanito were able to watch the Kadayawan Street Dancing festivities right from their hotel, and from everything John said, I think they enjoyed it!  I am not going to get into details … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Communication, Daily Life, Davao, Expats, Food, Living in The Philippines, Relationships, Travel

It’s on the Coconut Telegraph

August 20, 2010 By MindanaoBob 63 Comments
Coconut Telegraph Album Cover

I admit it.  I'm a Parrothead.  Big time. Oh wait... some of you are asking... what the heck is a "parrothead?" Well, a Parrothead is a fan of Jimmy Buffett.  For the uninitiated, Jimmy Buffet is an American Singer.  His music is hard to categorize.  It is not quite rock.  It's not quite country.  It's somewhere in between the two.  Jimmy Buffett primarily sings island style music.  He is a man who loves the tropics.  He sails boats.  He flies a sea plane.  He parties a lot, or used to when he was younger.  A lot of Jimmy's songs really sound a lot like the life that I lead here in the Philippines.  Songs about Coconuts.  … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Daily Life, Entertainment, Expats, Filipino Culture, Living in The Philippines, Travel

Bang!

August 18, 2010 By MindanaoBob 28 Comments
Canter - Can't?

As you may recall, last week, on Feyma and my 20th Wedding Anniversary, we took a trip to Samal Island for the day.  It was a nice day, as I told about in my article last week. Something unexpected happened, though, on the way home. When we arrived at the Ferry terminal for the boat ride back to the City, there were a lot of cars waiting.  I told Feyma that we would be lucky if we were to make it on to the next Ferry, and that we would likely have to wait until the following Ferry, because the first one would likely be full.  Sure enough, I was correct in my assessment.  We almost made it, but when the Ferry was full there was us and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Living in The Philippines, Transportation, Travel

I felt good!

August 16, 2010 By MindanaoBob 102 Comments
Swimming at the beach on Samal Island

I had an experience last Friday that really made me feel good.  I thought I'd tell you about it today. On Thursday evening, my oldest son, Chris, mentioned to me that he wanted to go get a haircut on Friday.  I needed a haircut myself, as I had not had one in 2 weeks.  I usually get my hair cut every week, but I had been busy and not had a chance to make it to the barber shop, so I told Chris that we would go together on Friday. I don't recall having gone with Chris to the barber shop anytime recently.  Usually, all of our kids go for a haircut with their cousin, Deo.  I usually go alone.  We all go to the same barber shop, though. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Daily Life, Entertainment, Expats, Filipino Culture, Living in The Philippines, Relationships

My Journey to Samal

August 13, 2010 By MindanaoBob 21 Comments
New Central Convenience Store/Phoenix Gas Station

The other day, I set out to go to Samal Island.  I was excited to go, because it had been a while since I had gone to Samal, so this was indeed a journey for me!  For regular readers, you will likely remember that I used to write relatively often about Samal and the time I would spend there.  In the past year or so, though, I have not written much about Samal. Life gets busy sometimes, and other activities get in the way of what we really want to do.  Sometimes we let work get the better of us, and we spend our entire days behind a desk, and in front of a computer... or whatever it is your job requires of you.  For me, working means being … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Daily Life, Davao, Expats, Feyma Martin, Living in The Philippines, Samal Island, Travel, Weather
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