House tour

I often get e-mails (and Feyma does too!) from LiP readers asking about finding a house to rent here in Davao, or elsewhere in the Philippines.  The people often want to know what kind of house they can get, and how much it will cost them.  Or, they might say “how much is it for a 3 bedroom house?”

Well, this is a very difficult question to answer, because the number of bedrooms does not necessarily determine the rental price of the house!  I mean, you could have a very high quality place with 3 bedrooms, or a 6 bedroom shanty, and I can assure you that the 3 bedroom place would rent for more!  This is just common sense.  Since I usually don’t know the person who is asking, have never met, etc., I really have no idea what kind of place this person is interested in.

So, today, I want to share with you a video of the house that Feyma and I live in.  We have lived in this house for almost 4 years now, and have one more year to go on our lease.  The house is located in a very convenient area of town, near the heart of Davao City.  It is 15 minutes to walk to many major parts of town like G-Mall, Victoria Plaza, Apo View Hotel or Marco Polo Hotel.  Yet, it is a residential area.  So, it’s a place that gets a fair amount of demand, and rightfully so.

Now, let me say, my house is quite large.  I estimate it to be about 4,500 square feet, or 450 square meters.  It is a 2 level, daylight basement style place, as you will see in the Video.  The house has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths.  The rent we pay is about P35,000 per month, about $700, or slightly more.  A number of areas in the Philippines that I have looked at have less expensive rental prices than Davao. Particularly in the past few years, rentals in Davao have appreciated considerably. This is a large house for the Philippines, and also expensive for here.  There are more expensive places in Davao, probably up to about double the price we are paying, but the vast majority of houses here would rent for much less than this price.  But, at least this will give you an idea of what you can get for the money.

College job

Feyma is working with a LiP reader this week.  He is relocating to Davao, and Feyma is assisting him with many of his needs in relocating, things like renting a house, moving in, purchasing his daily living needs and such.  She’ll be back next week with a new article.  For now, enjoy this repeat of an older article of hers!

When I completed 2 years in college my brother asked me to stop my schooling to manage his textile business in Manila.  I was in Cebu for school. I was in my late teens at that time. He had around 5 different stores, some were managed by his wife’s siblings. He also had a dressmaking shop. He had around 4 or 5 seamstresses. Some of those clothes that they made I was selling it in my store. It was really a successful store. My other sister also managed the other store. Me and my sister managed the stores pretty good.

My brother used to go to Zamboanga to buy fabric because the fabric there usually came from Thailand or from some other Asian countries. A lot of our customers from Northern Luzon liked the fabric from there. Sometimes he would go to Hong Kong for our upper class clientele. At least there he can really choose what design would be on the fabric. Somehow they like the fabric from there. I remember when my brother and his wife would be back from the trip, as if we would not sleep for almost 24 hours. We have to sort the fabric and measure it for it to be ready to be shipped for our customers. A lot of times when my brother bought the fabric from Zamboanga or abroad more than half of it is sold already. Some of the fabric my brother already had orders for already made clothing. Most of those went to the Visayas and Mindanao.

Some of the fabric that we still had left in stocks remained on the shelf for awhile. What I do I will have our seamstress make one for me and I would be wearing it in my store. A lot of the customers would notice the fabric then and they would want to buy it. I guess they can’t really see the nice fabric in the shelf, but I guess seeing the fabric that its made then they can see the whole picture then. Thinking about it now, I wonder what would my customers reaction if I was not so conservative back then? Wow, I think my fabric would be sold before the days end. My dad and mom might just want me to stay at our house instead.

I was talking to my niece, shes working in my brother’s business. She told me that some stores of my brother and a lot of my brother’s friends are closing. She told me that the business is really slow right now. I know because of the economy. I feel bad for them though because that’s how they keep their income to survive. Now a lot of the clothing that are being sold here in the Philippines are really cheap. It is more costly if you have to buy the fabric and have somebody make it for you. I’ve seen here in the kiosk in Davao the price for a nice blouse its just Php99. Some are even cheaper. With that price you have to be size 0 to at most a size 8. If you are more than that size it is harder to find clothes in the kiosk even in the mall. I guess just have to buy the fabric and have it made it then.

Have fun shopping and try to bargain too!

Philippine Playboy!

People often ask me how I ended up in the Philippines.  The short answer is for a better life.  I must say, that the Philippines has exceeded my expectations.  However, that also required an open mind and a re-evaluation of what is important.

Yes I have a few less creature comforts here than I did in the USA but it didn’t take me long to realize those things were not as important as I thought.  Central air, super fast Internet connection (equal to T3), a DVR attached to my cable box with over 200 channels and hot water throughout the house come to mind.  Those things are nice but they don’t matter, you don’t need them.  Some of these things may be available in different parts of the Philippines, but I don’t have these things any more.

A few weeks ago, I was woken by the sound of the electricity going off.  The thud followed by the air con shutting off.  It was early on a Sunday morning and when that happens in Northern Cebu on a Sunday you can can bet that power will be off all day.  Instead of sitting in Jollibee all day (they have a backup generator), I decided to head off to Bantayan Island wish is about an hour and a half away.

The Good Life On a Budget

Just look at this picture.  I’m smoking a $2.00 cigar that would cost over $10.00 in the USA.  Sitting in a bamboo chair after having lunch at Tristan’s Resort for three at a cost of less than $10.00.

I’m wearing a hand made shirt tailored just for me.  Do that in the USA. Do I look like I have a care in the world?  Nope, as I didn’t.    I think I look like an old playboy that doesn’t realize he peaked many years ago.  LOL  That’s not a bad thing.  I have a good life in the Philippines but it gets so much better.

Hmm, Maybe I am a playboy, I mean look at that girl.  She looks so out of place next to me, or at least she does to me. What’s a beautiful girl like Jessie doing with me?  What would be the chances of me finding a girl like this in the USA?  Just about zero.

But even better than her looks is the way she treats me.  She treats me like a king.  Oh she’s not perfect, she gets grumpy at times but we usually are able to laugh that off.  I just call her my ornery angel and move on.  That’s because of the way she treats me though.

Jessie is ninety percent of why my life is good.  My attitude is part of it too. Get your attitude right, treat a Filipina well and she’ll treat you well too.  Of course there are exceptions, you shouldn’t judge what a Filipina is like based on the ones you meet online but you can meet a good one online if you are careful and don’t move too fast.  I met Jessie online.  I talked to a guy the other day that met his wife at Filipina Hearts.

I think there was someone on this site that mentioned finding his Filipina beauty on that site.  I had an account there at one time.  Talked to some girls with some promise, talked to a lot of girls that just wanted me to send them money.

If you’re thinking about moving to the Philippines, find your adventurous side and get your butt over here!

A word of caution about this playboy thing.  Filipina are crazy jealous and most would admit that.  If you’re planning on being a true playboy, you’re asking for trouble.  Though I know some guys that pull it off.  Just don’t promise more of a relationship than you can give to a girl.  Even if you are careful, she may latch on to you and get hurt.  A hurt Filipina, can be dangerous to the good life. 

For myself, I have everything.  I’ve never been so calm in my life, so relaxed nor have I had such a high standard of living as I’ve found while living in the Philippines.

Summer of swimming

Summer vacation for the school kids here in the Philippines is well underway now, and the challenge for parents like Feyma and I is to keep the kids busy!  You know how kids are, if you don’t keep them busy with something, they will spend their time playing video games and watching TV.  Doing that for 3 solid months will lead to boredom and also laziness!

So, we are always keeping an eye out for something for the kids to do.

If you have been reading my site for very long, you undoubtedly know that I enjoy swimming.  The kids must take after their Dad, because they enjoy it too.  Well, the other day the kids asked to go swimming, and we said “of course” – as it is a good activity for them.  Good exercise, good fun… nothing wrong with that!

The kids went swimming at Bryan’s Grill – a favorite restaurant of ours which also has a Bed & Breakfast and a swimming pool.  They charge P80/day for swimming per person.  That is cheaper than any other place in town that I am aware of.  Most pools in town charge P100, some even charge P150 per day, so P80 is a pretty good price.  However, I got thinking about it and remember that Bryan’s also offers longer term memberships, which are quite a bit cheaper.  When we inquired, we found that they have a package deal for 5 people.  Five people can swim any time they want for 3 months for just P2,500!  That’s cheap!  We have 4 kids, and our Nephew will bring the kids, so that makes 5.  So, we bought a 3 month membership for everybody to swim.  By the time that the membership ends, they will be back in school again.

One thing I like about the pool at Bryan’s is that it is deep!  The shallow end is 4 feet deep, and it is 8 feet in the deep end.  I know of no other pools in Davao that deep.  Most pools that I am aware of here are only 5 feet in the deep end.  Personally, I like it deeper than 5 feet, because I don’t want to be able to touch the bottom – I want to tread water and burn more calories that way!

So, the kids are in for a summer of swimming fun!  I know they will enjoy having the pool membership, and I am betting that they will swim at least 5 days per week.  I might even join them from time to time msyelf!

A Year In The Philippines

As of February sixth, I’ve been in the Philippines for a year. I don’t think I’ve ever been more alive than I have in the last year. Its been a year of learning but I’ve only just begun to learn. I have a long way to go. I can’t help but reflect over the last year. There have been far more high points than low points.

There are things I miss from The States but that is not what I think of as home any more. My home is in the Philippines, I just have strong ties to the US. I miss real milk. Maybe there’s some here but its so expensive I don’t bother. I miss pizza, but I’m better off without it. Oh I eat them but there’s no 18 inch Milano’s Pizza that I use to order back in Memphis. I miss my gun but I don’t miss the crime that caused me to need it. Living in Memphis, it should have been a requirement, not just permitted.

Read more

Market Day

Early Sunday morning I went with my niece and nephew to the Palengke (market) to get good and fresh produce and fresh meat. We went around 4am so that we can catch when the butcher delivers the fresh meat. Sunday is the market day here. People really flocked from all over Davao to get the fresh and newly delivered veggies. I mean they deliver everyday, but its really Sunday that the delivery is abundant and lots of variety.

Since living here in Davao, 7 years ago if we go to the market P500 is enough already to buy the veggies that we want for the week. Nowadays we have to spend like P2000 for the weeks worth of veggies. Just a sample a kilo of potato before its 20-30 pesos, now its 60-70 pesos per kilo. Even with the price increase of course people have to go to the market to buy their food though. Can’t complain because its worldwide that’s really suffering right now. Its just sad that I can hear people complaining there. Well, at least at the Palengke they can bargain the price, unlike at the supermarket at the mall.

I really enjoyed going to the Palengke. Really its not just for the veggies and meat but its also nice seeing and meeting lot of people from many walks of life shopping there. The vendors still smiling  a lot even though they’re having a hard time. They’re still happy trying to get a decent living. I know its not much for them to earn everyday but still they are satisfied. I’m happy for them. A lot of them the whole family will be selling the veggies or meat in one stall, they take turns in serving the customers. Some members will take care during night time while others sleep, then vise versa. I saw a kid she might have been like 6 years old. She’s helping her mom and dad selling beans. She’s really cute, of course I bought some veggies from her. I also saw a dad and his 4 kids. This family used to be selling Filipino delicacy everyday, the dad was the cook, the mom and the kids (when they were younger) was the one selling the food in the Palengke. Unfortunately, the mom died a few years ago, so now the dad and the kids will just sell their food at the Palengke during weekend because the kids are in school. The dad has other jobs during weekdays. We always swing by there at those peoples stall and buy a lot of their food. These are the food that they are selling like biko (sweet rice with coconut milk and sugar), suman (sweet rice again with similar stuff as the biko and wrapped in banana leaves), palitaw (ground sweet rice and mix with water and drop in boiling water when its cooks, eat it with ground coconut), and a lot more.

Maybe we will bump some of you guys there? Anyway, have fun going to the market and have fun bargaining.

Mabuhay!

Getting expensive!

As I watch the value of the dollar sliding down against any currency I thought that the prices of the goods here would be lower a bit. I was wrong, as I go to the grocery store and shop for our groceries I find it that the prices of all the products are even getting higher. I also thought that the imported stuff that comes from the USA should be lower but it’s not. Every time I go shopping now I usually spend a lot of money. We buy our grocery that’s usually good for a week or two. The bread at the bakery the prices are higher too and the sizes are getting smaller. Some of the restaurants the prices of their food are higher and the serving is getting smaller and the tastes sometimes not so good. The quality of the food was down too.
I was also noticing that my nieces would shop on our vegetables and some fruits at the wet market (palengke) the prices there too are getting higher. Just like the onions when we first came here per kilo would be 20-25pesos now it’s 60pesos. Fruits are also expensive. I know that everywhere in the world now the prices went up. I just felt sorry for the majority of the masses here. They are poor. Not much job available here. It’s really a heartache sometimes seeing the people that suffer.

Clothing and school supplies are also catching up. Sometimes I can’t imagine how some of my family can afford to send their kids and just being able to eat 3 times a day nowadays. With that in mind I heard on the news like last month that a girl here in Davao killed herself. The report said that its because of poverty. It was really sad, I guess she left a note or something saying that she was just tired of her parents and siblings fighting just because they have nothing. I think that case still under investigation, they said their is more to it than what she was saying in her notes. I just hope that it was an eye opener for some of the family here.

Hiring janitorial services!

It’s been awhile now that I was thinking of hiring somebody to clean our house thoroughly. Yeah we have help here in the house, but she is so tide up with catering the needs of our kids that sometimes the house is not really maintain the way Bob and I want it to be. A few months ago while riding the taxi on my way home I saw a janitorial place not far from our house. So finally yesterday I told my niece to call the janitorial place and inquire from them how much would they usually charge for a house cleaning. Later my niece told me that she talked to one of the people at the cleaning place and they told her that somebody will be coming over to our house to see and make an estimate of how much are they going to charge me. Like 2- 3 hours later the lady showed up at our house, my niece eagerly showed her the whole house. Few minutes later I talked to this lady and asked her right away how much they usually charge for cleaning a house like ours? She immediately said Php20,000.00. I asked her again I thought I just misheard her. She told me the price again the 20k. I told her wow, that’s a lot of money. She then told me to call up her boss, that the boss will reduce the price a little bit. I thought to myself yeah she will lower it at the most 2k. I am not paying that kind of money just for cleaning my house. I will just hire some extra people here and I will oversee what they are doing for just 1/4 or less of the price they quoted me.

I will tell more of our house though. It has three good size room, 2 living rooms and a big eating area and a kitchen. 2 bathroom upstairs and one downstairs of course the hallway. The living room downstairs which we turn into the play and computer area for the kids has a vaulted ceiling. Really all in all for me it didn’t think that cleaning this space I have to pay 20k for it. I’m pretty sure that some friends that came here and saw our house would agree with me on that.

I told my nieces and nephew what the janitorial lady quoted me for cleaning our house, they told me right away that we will just clean our house ourselves. Today my nephew and my brother-in-law started climbing the ladder and cleaning our walls and ceiling. I think that’s a good start for us. Few days ago I already started cleaning my good dishes (china) and my crystals. I have to handle it myself because my people are scared to handle it, that they might break it. They just wanted to assist me on that. They know that we have some china that was given to Bob by his grandparents and of course his parents.I also have some good china collections myself over the years of living in the States.

The lady even told my niece that we don’t really need them because our house is already clean anyway. My gosh, how much more are they going to charge me if our house was really so filthy? Really I was in shocked for the whole day yesterday. You can call me cheap, but I would rather spend my money on the important stuff. Me and my people will just have to work more time in cleaning now. Wow, double time. It’s okay though.

Hey guys I need some help here!

I got an e-mail yesterday from a guy in the USA. He wants me to give him some advice. This guy wants to move here somewhere in Southern Luzon. He wanted to marry this lady from that area. I guess it would be hard for her to go abroad quickly because she has 2 kids from her previous marriage. Anyway, this guy wants to know if he would move here to the Philippines is $10,000 enough for him to start a new life here with this new family of his? He also said that he thinks his lady might be pregnant, that’s why he wants to move here so bad to be with her. He said on his e-mail that they already have a store (I’m just guessing sari-sari store, he didn’t say what kind of store he has) that they started while he came here for a visit. He also said that he built a two story house there too for them.

When I responded to his e-mail I told him that $10k is not enough to start a new life here in the Philippines. Even if he did have a store and a house. That money will be gone in an instant if he would not use it properly. He must invest wisely. I’m having a hard time advising him because I know a lot of the prices of goods these days are going up. I guess for him to stay here he has to live like the local people then. I mean nothing wrong with that, it’s just that he’s used to a good life in the States.

He also wanted to know what kind of visa he is going to get to come here? I’m not sure if they are married already. He wants to process all his paperworks here in the Philippines. I told him on my e-mail that it’s best to process there in the States it’s much quicker I think than here in R.P. He wants to come here ASAP he said.

From his e-mail I don’t think his retired he told me his 44 years old. He would have mention then on his e-mail if he is. Any thoughts from you guys are much appreciated. I will let him read all the advice that’s given. I will give him our website so that he could get some more information that he needs. Thank you so much guys.

Mabuhay!

Furniture Shopping

Few days ago I saw a furniture store, as I glance on the window I could see that it’s pretty good stuff. So I decided to checked it out. Wow, it shock me when I went inside, they had lots of good quality furnitures inside. The name of the store is BENTLEY. It’s just behind Chowking right across Victoria mall in Bajada. I think they had branch in some other areas in the Philippines. This place in my opinion are selling high end stuff. But don’t expect them to be a Thomasville or Ethan Allen in the States though. At least for Philippines, Bentley is good.

One furniture that I saw that I like was a tall dresser, the price tag P95,000. Their was a couch that would turn into a bed, it’s fancy with an earth tone color in a suede fabric price tag P135,000. I also saw a victorian sleigh bed with nice woodwork king size, I think if I remember the price tag P195,000 without mattress.

They’re also selling lamps, they also had good selection of comforters. I saw one that they had that I kind of like it except the price, it’s price for P80,000. They had lots of paintings if you like victorian, modern or country style. they have it. One painting that caught my eye that I really like, but it’s just expensive price for P145,000, it’s victorian painting.

One place that Bob and I like to buy our furniture is Caravan in Lanang. They had another branch now in Bajada. The name is Tanoy. We bought our couch there for P40,000, the fabric is suede and nice color. They also had good selection of furnitures and comforters, paintings and outdoor furnitures. They can also custom made for you if you like certain design. We had our comforter and curtain made by them. I did asked for discount.

If you want cheaper stuff, theirs lots of furniture place now in the Philippines like Mandaue foam, Golden bell, Emcor.  Most of this furniture places has branches in other big cities here in the Philippines. Most malls here sells furnitures stuff too.

Good luck and have fun shopping!