OnMyWay

Dan, I didn't realize they were selling the Challenger here. If you get one, you can store it at my house and I will drive it a few times a week to keep it running good! http://www.dodge.com.ph/en/vehicle/challenger/

I used to go to Laker games, concerts and a few Kings games 40 years ago. At the time, that area around the Forum was fairly safe to the west but if you got turned around and went east after the event, that was a bad area for sure. However, at the time, the Sports Arena area near downtown L.A. was the worst area. Many car breakins, etc. Now, I think that area is much nicer as they really spruced it up when Staples Center replaced the Sports Area. All the BB teams play there now. I looked at the Forum FB page and I think 90% of the events are concerts now with a bit of boxing / mma. Now, back to your original programming.

We are 5 now but that is not a big deal as we work out the seats. This reminded to rant on PAL a bit. They do not give any discount for children aged 2-11, and they charge extra to sit in an aisle seat or in the front.

We really don't have much privacy, do we? This ad comes up twice on this page.

Last time we used SQ and paid about $1275 USD for adult fare, but we had to book a hotel for the overnight layover on the way back. It looks like they have changed schedules since then and an overnight layover is not needed. Adult fares on the dates we need are as low as $950. However, need to consider PAL direct at only 10 hours. The PAL calendar only goes until the second week of December so I can't see the fare over Christmas yet. If I put in early December dates the fare is also about $950. I didn't consider PAL last time because they were flying a small airbus and stopping in AU. Now they have an Airbus A330-300 non-stop. It has 2-4-2 seating. Anybody tried this aircraft yet?

Anybody flying Malaysian Airlines these days? I have not really considered them since MH 370 flew off into the wild blue yonder and was never seen again. Searching for flights to Auckland for next December and MH has a good fare. The PAL direct flight has good prices in November but their calendar only goes til mid-December now, so I have to wait to see what the fares will be.

This particular topic included that he is thinking about living in Mindanao. It certainly is not scare mongering to discuss safety for expats in Mindanao. It is a known fact that some areas have increased risk of kidnapping and related serious crimes. If you mean street crime, etc., I agree that many area of the U.S. are worse than PH. I feel very safe where I live here in Subic.

Nueva Ecija. They have always been there but apparently there are more now. Generally speaking, NPA don't usually kill you, they just "tax" you to death! https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1073603/mindanao-rebels-beef-up-npa-in-luzon-army-exec

On a related note.... I wrote before about a You Tube star, Ryan Toys Review. They have now moved to the top spot in You Tubers for 2018, and according to Forbes, made around 22 million last year! I try not to let my kids watch it anymore as they don't understand that all kids can't have all the toys this kid has. So yesterday on You Tube, I saw they had a new video of them taking a cruise. I couldn't resist and watched it. They were in the the Ultimate Family Suite on Royal Caribbean's Splendor of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world. It was quite obscene so I had to look up how much it cost! Top price paid so far at Christmas: $85,000 for a week! Now, you can get it normally for 75-80 k but it is booked for a full year in advance! And just think, this family probably gets to write if off as a business expense! The mother is so annoying!

Side note... I noticed recently in Olongapo there are some coin operated laundries that have popped up. There is one near my daughter's friends house that is odd because it is basically outside. The washers and dryers are stacked on the outside wall and when they are closed, they pulled down the metal roll door. They look like expensive LG or Samsung machines, stainless steel, and there are probably twenty. I have seen customers there using them but it does not seem like a good business model, seeing how you can just drop off your laundry and have it done for a very low price. Most likely, this place offers that as well.

I have no doubt that the average person down there is nice, but the doesn't make it safe. I did say Southern Mindanao but in the North, they recently had the huge war in Marawi City. My wife has been wanting to visit Cagayan de Oro but I said "it is less than 100 km from Marawi". Our new maid is from Zamboanga and she convinced my wife it is not safe in most places. The reason is not the Muslim insurgents that get most of the news, it is the NPA. They are active all over, especially in the "nicest mountains and countrysides". She said it is very common for buses to be pulled over by them so they can collect "taxes". If I was a single guy, I might venture into more of Mindanao. However, I have to go by the test of "Would I drive my family through XX area and feel comfortable doing it?" No, I won't. There are also a few areas in Luzon where I won't take the family due to NPA activity.

There are several good drone pilots in Subic who have taken some good video of the cruise ships. In one, there was a nice shot of a ship departing. I don't think they use any tugs when departing. The thrusters gently push them away from the dock and when they are far enough out, they can spin the ship rather quickly. One video has a good shot of the spin but I couldn't find it. I found this nice video of the cruise ships in Miami....

Why? Mindanao is not the safest of places to live, although I know nothing of that place. Generally speaking, Davao is the only safe place in Southern Mindanao.

I don't really have anything to add to this interesting topic, but I did want to be the 400th reply! Bigmac, thanks for sharing and I hope sharing helps you deal with the situation. Sometimes it helps to talk about stressful stuff, even if it is with semi-strangers on this forum.

A side story with a nice ending.... This same lady lost a p40,000 gold bracelet at our school, I think in the outdoor playground. It was missing for a day and she knew it was probably lost there. The grand dad of one of the kids found it and turned it into the office. This granddad only picks up his grandson once in a while, so she was lucky that he was around to find it. Nice to have an honest guy find it. His grandson Liam cracks me up. Big heavyset kid, maybe five, very outgoing, not afraid of anything. The first time he met me a year or two ago, he said "What is your name?". I said "Don". To this day, every time he sees me, even at a distance, he shouts out "Hi Don!".