Live in the Philippines

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Shh…. My Super Secret Project

Holidays, Money Matters / by

Lately, I have been posting on Facebook about my “Super Secret Project”.  Maybe you saw it on FB, maybe you didn’t.  But, today, I am going to let the cat out of the bag!

First, let me share with you what I posted on FB last Saturday, so you will get the message that I sent out:

I am embarking on a super secret project this morning. It will require travel today to Tagum, Panabo and Digos. Top secret, I cannot share details YET. Maybe next week. It will make a lot of people happy. Maayong adlaw, mga amigo.

A lot of people were trying to guess what I was up to, and two people actually guessed correctly!  I did not tell them they were correct, though, because I could not reveal the information at that time. 🙂

Over many years now, I have been doing the LiP Christmas Giveaway.  Readers of this website would donate money, we would buy gifts of various types, and we would go and give out these gifts to poor people in different parts of Mindanao.  It was really a lot of fun.  Last year, though, I was notified by Paypal that I would no longer be able to accept donations for this Christmas Giveaway, because I am not officially a Non-Profit Organization (I never suggested that I was, just to be clear).  So, anyway, not being able to accept donations for the Christmas Drive pretty much put an end to it, and I was a bit sad that it would not be able to continue, because it brought a lot of joy to a lot of people over the years.

Bob Karla and Merry Cris
Bob Karla and Merry Cris

However, in early November, I was contacted by a company from Manila with a very interesting offer.  They were offering me a job!  Imagine, a job in the Philippines?  They sent me a message on the Internet, asking me if I would be willing to be Santa for a large Philippine company during the month of December!  They told me how much the pay was, and I was impressed, the pay they offered was really great.  I mean, the amount of pay was on par with what many US companies would be offering, which surprised me.

I have been offered to do Santa gigs here in the Philippines in the past, but I always said no.  This time, though, they asked me at just the right time, because I was kind of sad about not being able to do the LiP drive this year, and I accepted their offer!

The company that I am working for has a contract with Cherry Mobile, a Philippine Cellphone Manufacturer, quite a big company.  They have Santas in different areas around the Philippines, and I am the Santa for Davao City and generally around the Southern Mindanao Region.  At the time of this writing (Monday, Dec 1) we have visited 7 Malls.  On Saturday we went to Tagum City and Panabo.  Sunday we went to 4 different Malls in Davao City.  Today, Monday, is an off day, then tomorrow we will visit more Davao City Malls, and Wednesday we will be in Digos City.  This weekend, we will be going to General Santos, and in the following week we will have more visits in other Southern Mindanao locations!

To be honest, it has really been a LOT of fun!  I have been able to bring smiles to so many faces along the way, and it is very rewarding!  I hear a lot of people saying that I am the “real Santa” because they expect Santa to be white, and usually they only see Filipino Santas.  For me, the color is not a big deal, but it is here, because they see the Christmas shows and such, and Santa is always white, but they don’t get that here.

One thing I found out on my first day of playing Santa is that a LOT of women here seem to have secret crushes on Santa Claus!  I have had so many incidents of having pictures with ladies who made it very obvious to me that they really liked Santa!  Thankfully, Feyma is not worried about that!

I also want to say that I have been working with a team of myself and 3 other people, and I am really enjoying each of them.  They are good folks.  The team consists of:

Karla.  Karla is the team leader.  Karla is very nice, and also does a good job of taking care of everything for us.  She goes first into the malls to arrange for permits that are required from the malls before we enter.  She lines everything up for us and takes care of whatever we need to do the job.

Merry Cris.  Merry Cris is playing a role called “Santa’s Girl”, she wears a sparkly dress and she is at my side was we go around the malls and at the Cherry Mobile store.  Merry also interacts with customers at Cherry Mobile. She also poses for a lot of pictures with mall customers as we walk around the mall.  I have gotten to know Merry Cris fairly well, as we spend a lot of time waiting in the van while everything is being lined up for us.  I like Merry a lot, she is a nice girl.

Edward. Edward drives us all around to the places we visit (sometimes several hours away from Davao).  We have a very nice van that we travel in, seems nearly brand new.  The aircon is so cold in the van that Santa shivers sometimes! 🙂

On two of the days out, my daughter, Jean, came along too, and she had fun as well.

I have to say, so far, although it is tiring and often a long day, I have really enjoyed doing this, and am very happy that I accepted the offer.  Seeing the smiles, especially the smiling children, really warms my heart and makes me happy!  At this point, I am even hoping that I will be able to do this again next year!

As a final word, I want everybody to know that I am setting up a new website – Santa in the Philippines – I will be featuring pictures and stories about my various Santa trips.  Give it a visit if you have an interest.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hey, you are the best Santa ever… I’ve been a very good boy this year Santa and I’ve had my eye on the new BMW i3 all electric… can you check your sleigh and see if you have one for me? Thank you and have a great time in the Fils… give them some snow this year

  2. Ok Bob, pay pal may not be cooperating with you but you can always get money for your project through Western Union or Money Gram. PayPal will not allow me to purchase any thing online if it involves shipping to or in the Philippines now. Bummer! By the way you should power that Spruce Goose with 5o Honda 125 motorcycle engines!

    • Hi Joe – Last year, when the PayPal trouble with donations popped up, I tried doing Western Union, but never got a single donation through them. So, because of that, I didn’t consider it a very viable alternative. I think that people want a way where they can just easily send the money and PayPal seems to be the answer. I do have another idea and may give it a shot next year. For this year, this Santa gig is fulfilling my desire to do this sort of thing, though! Ho ho ho…

  7. Hi Inday – Yes, Feyma is planning to come along on the next trip! Our daughter, Jean, has come on two trips so far, and we have had a lot of fun. 🙂

  14. That’s so awesome Bob!! If you make it back to Panabo, give me a heads up and I will send my family there. We have a new Baby in the family there and would love a Santa Pic with you and the baby.

  15. Hi Dan – Thank you, I am enjoying it a lot, having fun and watching a lot of smiling faces! Unfortunately, we have already been to Panabo, and won’t be back again this year, sorry about that. Congrats on the new baby in the family! 🙂

    • Thanks, Brenton! Yes, I try to speak a little Bisaya with all of the kids, but they also like seeing and knowing that Santa is a foreigner – it is what they expect. It adds to the fun, though, when I start speaking to them in Bisaya! 🙂

  24. Struggling. Coming down sick again. Thinking I’m getting a sinus infection now. I’m so proud of you for always helping so many people throughout the year! God Bless you, Feyma, and your family.

  27. When was the last time you had your aircon unit cleaned? If you don’t get it cleaned, it is blowing out germs on you. We get our units cleaned every 3 months or so. It is quite inexpensive.

  30. Better get it cleaned, that will probably help. It will make the air it is blowing cleaner, it will make it blow much colder, and it will also lower your electricity bill.

  31. The proof is in the pics, there really is a ” Minda-Claus ” . Nice job Bob and I hope they let you keep the Santa outfit. Your efforts in previous years was great but I think this one tops them all.

    • Hi Bob – Thank you! You know, I always enjoyed doing the Christmas giveaway here on LiP. I never realized, though, how much a Santa Suit would improve it! With that Santa Suit on, the eyes and faces of the kids just sparkle. It is just amazing.

      Unfortunately, I won’t be able to keep the suit… but Santa has a plan…. big things are coming for next year! Stand by!

    • Cleaning the filter behind the front grill of a window air con unit is quite simple, maybe you can take care of this yourself. Keeping the filter clean will help air circulation and keep the inside of the unit cleaner longer. I always check the filters in Hotel Rooms and some of them have been plugged up with accumilated dust and dirt. I usually just remove them and wash them out under running water until clean. If you have the instruction manual that came with the unit it should cover how to remove, clean and replace the filter. If you are not sure then by all means get qualified help.

      • In the tropics, just cleaning that filter is not adequate. Cleaning the filter is OK, but the entire unit needs cleaning around 3 or 4 times per year.

  40. Thanks, Stephen. I have been considering using something like “Go Fund Me” and some of the others. Probably this year, though, since it is getting late, and with the Santa Gig, I don’t have enough time to do the giveaway this year. But… I do have plans coming together for next year! Big plans! 🙂

  42. Ha ha… this has been secret until today, ‘ngay! Ha ha.. unfortunately, I don’t have any appearances in Iligan, though. 🙂 Davao, Tagum, Panabo, GenSan, Digos, Kidapawan, Tacurong, Marbel, Cotabato City, but no Iligan! 🙂 Bobby.

  49. Ha ha… first time I heard that a Filipino company wants to hire foreigners over Filipinos! Actually, I was so surprised when they approached me about this, but happy to do it, because it is fun and rewarding.

  50. Bob I must say to be honest…this was not surprising to me. In real life you are very kind and always giving to others. I think this was Gods way of giving you yet another outlet to do amazing work for even more people. Blessings to you and your family!

    PS: Tell your elves to start working on my new drum kit when I move to the Philippines LOL!!

  51. Thank you so much for your kind words, Tommy. They are highly appreciated. I really am thankful for this opportunity because it is highly rewarding to me, and very meaningful.

  55. Bob,
    You make the perfect Santa! I know its very enjoyable seeing the kids eyes light up when they see you. Looking forward to your big plans with Santa next year.

    • Thank you, PapaDuck. You know, I really take the Santa thing seriously. If there is any kid or even adult who wants to have a picture, I won’t leave, I will wait as long as it takes to let everybody have a photo. Sometimes, they are trying to rush me to go somewhere else in the mall, but I just ignore it because I don’t want any kid to be sad that he didn’t get that photo that he wanted. That’s just how I am, I guess. Especially when it comes to the kids, I want them to have a special memory.

  57. We will be at SM, KCC and FitMart in GenSan, Ray. Unfortunately, I don’t have any idea when, though. We were supposed to be in GenSan today, but they canceled the out of town trip due to the possiblity of the typhoon. It has yet to be rescheduled, so I don’t know when it will happen.

  59. I will let you know if I can. It may be hard to say hi… the crowds are always very large! Ha ha… but’ll do my best. We are likely to stay overnight in GenSan, so I might be able to see you after working, though! 🙂

  60. Bob,
    From all I have read from your articles here they couldn’t have picked a better Santa for the Job !! Brought a smile to my face. Keep the Kids Smiling and what do you know sometimes being a lighter shade does come in handy.. lol
    GD

  61. Hi Bob, I told Feyma that I pledge an amount for your new surprise Christmas drive. I will drop by your place next week maybe Monday or Tuesday to hand you the amount of $100. See you latter Bob.

    • Hi Robert, how are you doing, my friend. I hope you are enjoying your vacation in the Philippines. I will be looking forward to seeing you next week. Thank you for your support, as always.

  64. Bob,

    Can you do a Santa and distribute a free ebook on 99 ways to make money on the internet please ? or for sell it for a US $10 with a whooping Christmas sale discount ?

    • Hi Stephen – Thanks for your comment. If you are interested, I have books on Amazon Kindle for as low as $2.99, some of which are about how to make money on the Internet (and other ways). You can see my Kindle books by going here.

  65. Nice job, Bob. I’m sure it’s rewarding to see the smiles on all of the kid’s faces as they get to visit with Santa.

  67. excellent, even if it is for pay. Bob, when you are in Digos City, drop me a line and i will take my nieces to see you