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Pasalubong

August 17, 2010 By JohnM 40 Comments
Sign at a Walmart in China

Yesterday, I had an interesting experience: I went into the cheapest store I had ever seen in my entire life. Where was it? WalMart.... In Dalian, China. I had about two hours to kill and took the opportunity to get my pasalubong for my trip home. Think about your average WalMart in the States, add five times as many people, along with row after row of cheap merchandise, made locally: That is WalMart in China. Example: a 32" flat screen LCD TV for around $200. With my business travel, I often have the opportunity to buy cheap overseas and bring goods home with me.  The concept, in Filipino, is called Pasalubong: Small gifts purchased … [Read more...]

Filed Under: John Miele Tagged With: Daily Life, Expats, Filipino Culture, Living in The Philippines, Relationships, Shopping, Travel

The Nuclear Option

August 6, 2010 By MindanaoBob 147 Comments
They do have pretty girls working at HDoaS though

Over my years of living in the Philippines I have adjusted to many new and different things.  Almost everything in life is a bit different here, but on almost everything, even when it's been difficult, I have made the adjustment. I've adjusted to different types of foods. I've adjusted to a totally different style of driving. I've adjusted to hot weather. I've adjusted to the fact that there are a lot of different kinds of smells here, and many of them not so good. There is, though, at least one adjustment that I just can't make, and I refuse to make.  I can't adjust to the Nuclear Option. I ain't gonna be eating them neon-red … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Adjustment, Bob Martin, Business, Daily Life, Expats, Food, Living in The Philippines, Shopping

Shaving in the Philippines

July 7, 2010 By MindanaoBob 87 Comments
Gillette Mach 3 Replacement Blades

One of the nice things about living in the Philippines, combined with working from my house is that I sometimes go a couple of days between shaving.  Just yesterday, John Miele wrote an article about body hair, and this article was not planned to be in competition with that, nor in conjunction with it.  I just happened to have an experience at the store the other day, which led me to write this article.  Anyway, yes, I do sometimes just shave a couple or three times per week, admittedly.  That said, if I am going out to the mall, or anywhere out from the house, I do make sure that I am not too scraggly, because the "5 o'clock shadow" look … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Daily Life, Davao, Dress, Expats, Living in The Philippines, Shaving in the Philippines, Shopping

Hey Joe – Ramblings from General Santos City

June 23, 2010 By Gary Ames 20 Comments
Orange Garden venue, under the canopy at dusk, before the guests arrive.

I don’t really have a specific topic for this article – but I’d like to give props to Paul K for showing it’s ok to ramble about a few things. I’ve recently incorporated some early morning jogs into my routine, which take me right through the heart of Gensan. I enjoy it, the city’s waking and there are other joggers, walkers, and morning workers, most just starting their day. I’ve commented on a couple articles that I haven’t heard as many “Hey Joe’s” around town as when we lived here back in the late nineties. However, my morning jogs are increasingly filled with that familiar greeting. Do the “Hey Joe’s” bother … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Guest Tagged With: Adjustment, Communication, Daily Life, Entertainment, Expats, Filipino Culture, Gary Ames, Health, Living in The Philippines, Mindanao, Shopping

Taking Advantage of a Refrigerator

May 12, 2010 By Jawz 22 Comments
fridge

Thanks mom for buyin' the refrigerator. Thanks Bob for having people to deliver it. As you can recall, from my Budgetin' in the Philippines blog post,I have been trying to see how low I can go. Recently I just got a refrigerator. It ain't no normal sized one, but it is a smaller sized fridge. I think its purpose is mainly to cool drinks. Well, I am taking advantage of this thing that I own. I am gonna use it as a test run tool for my budgeting experimentation. When I received this cool thing, I asked myself "Why think of spending outside of the room? How about spend in one bundle.". Well, I actually kinda did this with drinks and snacks, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Jawz Tagged With: Adjustment, Daily Life, Expats, Financial, Food, Living in The Philippines, Shopping

Food Prices

March 24, 2010 By Jawz 27 Comments
pricings2

I will share with you some food prices. These are from receipts I had saved. For you foreigners hoping to move to Philippines, this will give you an idea of costs. These prices are from Davao City. Some of the items I list may be things you are not familiar with, but at the end of the article, I will give definitions of those. You might wanna have this website pulled up just in case you wish to convert Philippines Pesos in to US Dollars or any other currency: Here are the prices: 2 Burgers... P25.00 1 meat, 2 vegetables, 1 small tea (varies eachday)... P45.00 5 Piayas... P18.65 Grape Juice (pouch)... P7.00 Berry Flavored … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Jawz Tagged With: Business, Daily Life, Davao, Food, Jonathan Watson, Living in The Philippines, Shopping

How can it be?

March 17, 2010 By MindanaoBob 49 Comments
ixus_batt

I have a nice little Canon digital camera that I got for my birthday in 2009.  It is an Ixus I camera, which is a tiny camera with a form factor similar to a cellular phone.  In fact, when they first see the camera, many people think it is a cellular phone rather than a camera.  It's really a rugged little camera, made all of metal instead of the plastic that you usually see.  It's a pocket sized camera, as you can imagine since it is similar in size to a cell phone.  I enjoy carrying this camera around with me wherever I go, so that a camera is always handy to capture a picture that could appear any time. Lately, though, for six months … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Business, Daily Life, Expats, Living in The Philippines, Shopping, Technology

What is a Balikbayan Box?

March 12, 2010 By MindanaoBob 82 Comments
balikbayan

Over the time that I've been writing this column, there have been plenty of occasions when I have mentioned "Balikbayan Boxes." The other day, I got a note from a reader asking me exactly what a Balikbayan Box is. Well, I should have cleared this up much earlier, the thought had not occurred to me that some people don't know what such a thing is! For most people who have had a connection to the Philippines, they know that a Balikbayan Box is a large box that you can use to ship goods to the Philippines cheaply. When you ship a Balikbayan Box, it comes to the Philippines as ocean cargo, on a ship, so it takes a month or two to arrive here … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Expats, Filipino Culture, Living in The Philippines, Shopping

My almost ruined day

February 26, 2010 By MindanaoBob 66 Comments
samsung-lapfit-1

As I mentioned in an article earlier this week, my birthday was last weekend.  I woke up early on Saturday morning and had a number of plans for the day, and was in a happy mood.  It was my birthday, after all, so why wouldn't I be happy.  Well, I suppose that if I considered my advancing years, maybe I would not have been quite as happy, but that is an entirely different story! For my birthday, Feyma told me that she wanted me to go buy myself a new computer.  Of course, as most of you know, my computer is my lifeline for both business and entertainment.  I need a computer to make money, and also to keep myself busy with the things that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Tagged With: Bob Martin, Business, Daily Life, Davao, Living in The Philippines, Shopping

Calamansi Shopping

February 24, 2010 By TrevorB 10 Comments
A1

Further to my previous article on keeping the flame alive I thought I'd take the opportunity to follow it up with an article on shopping for Filipino products outside of the Philippines. If you are interested in finding some interesting products from the Philippines plus getting a little insight on how to prepare them I highly recommend visiting your local Filipino grocery store. If your town or city has any Filipino immigrants I'd expect you'll find a store catering to them. I think we might be a little spoiled here in Vancouver because we have very large immigrant population and a very healthy Filipino community. There are a few areas within … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Trevor Tagged With: Filipino Culture, Food, Living in The Philippines, Shopping
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