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It’s Just Nature Isn’t It?
In 2001 my wife wanted a fish pond; of course, I told her to get a fish pond but mentioned that aquariums are really nice. She hired the neighborhood guys to dig the hole and using waterproof cement that is mixed with Sahara magic powder and topping it off they used vinyl (Water Proof?) roof paint. Basically the same way we waterproofed our slab roof. But it leaked (Not the roof), so it was all…
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Special Care for those with Special Needs
Philippine Care for those with Special Needs A Reply to David Haldane’s Article Yesterday on this website, I published an article from David Haldane entitled Insanity. Today, I wanted to write a bit of a follow-up to things that David had written. Over the past month or so on this website, several writers have delved into the topic of mental illness. Based on the things that David wrote yesterday, I felt that I had some…
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Living in the Philippines on a tourist visa 2018 Update
Tourist Visa to LIve in the Philippines If you want to live in the Philippines, you need some kind of visa to stay here. Let’s look at one way you can do it: tourist visas. 2018 Update This article is a couple years old (2016), and there have not been many changes since publication, but I get questions from plenty of people asking for an updated version of the article, so here it is! Small…
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It’s time to do it!
Financially, this is the time The Peso has hit a 12 year low If you have been thinking of moving to the Philippines, believe me, this is the time to do it. The US dollar has been rapidly getting stronger, making life much easier and better for American expats. This affects ex-pats all around the world, but I’m here to talk about the Philippines. The roller coaster ride I’ve seen When I moved here in…
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The warranty is null and void
Four years ago we bought a new car here in the Philippines; I was busy at the time looking for a previously owned car; as 1978 was the last time I purchased a new car. My reasoning was simple, I was a sailor who was at sea for months at a time and had to store my cars and motorcycles while I was working. A new car that you only drive a few months a…
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Are you taking full advantage of LiP?
This website really is a great resource. You can find entertainment here about the Philippines, and life here, and you can also find a lot of useful resources and information that will help you in your life here. Information about visas, drivers licenses, immigration issues, dealing with government offices, learning the language, interacting with other ex-pats, there really is information about just about any topic that an ex-pat would need to learn about. But, the…
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RIP to a Philippine Lover
Well, Anthony Bourdain was not my brother, but in some ways, he had a kinship with most anybody who would read this site. You see, Chef Anthony Bourdain had a real affection for the Philippines. I can’t really say for sure how long his Philippine connection went back, I think that it started about 10 years ago. There was an anonymous food blogger in the Philippines who was known as Marketman, and he blogged on…
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The Maytag Man, the loneliest Guy in Luzon
This could also include Visayas and Mindanao but here on liP the responses I receive I’ve found that to not be true, as perfection reigns supreme outside of Luzon, as I learned last week when I spoke of brownouts on the Philippine archipelagoes. But this does occur on the “Big Island” Here on Luzon washing machines are still not in vogue, I purchased a New Maytag in Olongapo in 1995 and found that there was…
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We’ll leave the light on for you
It was a bright sunny day when I flew into the Philippines from San Francisco on my way to meet a ship in Dubai UAE. I had five days to kill before I had to check on to the ship. (USNS Mars T-AFS-1 which was formerly the USS Mars.). It was 1993 I was still single earning a great wage and banking my Navy Retirement checks since 1986. Using an old Boston expression; “Fat dumb…
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Does the Philippines give a crap about being ranked so low?
Well, here we go again. It has been a number of years since I’ve really addressed this topic, but I think now is a good time to look at it again. What I am talking about is tourism and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Recently, the Matador Network came out with a new report, “The Seven Most Frustrating Airports around the World.” Once again, as is normal the Philippines ranked near the top of the…
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It Was About Time I Did It
Last year after spending a year thinking about it, once more at age 70, I applied for my VA benefits, after ignoring them for the past 32 years I tried 10 years ago and received the bureaucratic stonewalling and run-a-round, reaching a point where I packed up my tent and went home. Thinking I’ll wait until there is a new group in Washington. I retired from the US Navy in 1986, I was healthy and…
Read ArticleAre you really bored?
I really liked Jason’s article on Wednesday (Tuesday for you guys that are way behind us in time, like in the States). 🙂 Whenever a writer “bares all” and lays something out on the table, the results are always a good read, and such an article helps us know the person more “intimately”. I really thank Jason for laying himself on the line in his article ThePhilippines – A Cure for Mental Illness, Boredom, and Stress?…
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