Dave Hounddriver

Feels good, doesn't it? From memory, I would say that most flights and connections go smoothly. It is the ones where we just make it and the ones that totally screw up that stick in our minds.

Hong Kong is just fine if all goes well. The same could be said for ICN in South Korea. The problems occur with individual flights or airlines. I would be careful with the airline and the connecting times but you cannot plan for all scenarios. 6 months ago I was connecting through Hong Kong and my Air Canada flight was 9 hours late arriving which threw all my plans into disarray. It happens. Be aware that it can happen and have a backup plan. That's all any of us can do.

Most of the time they connect well. I only have one beef with them. Their arriving flight from America was almost an hour late. My 80-year-old mother had a connecting flight to Cebu with the same airline. She traveled business class and was scheduled to have a wheelchair waiting to take her directly to the connecting flight and they xxxx off without her, sent her through Manila where she was stuck for 16 hours waiting for a connection and her baggage got lost. So I would take the chance, if I were you, but I would keep it in mind that you need to take care of yourself as they do not put the customer first in some cases. They can be a great airline and you will likely have no problems. But there are no guarantees.

It depends. If you are catching a connecting flight that has a check-in counter airside AND if your arriving plane is on time or early AND if they will transfer any checked luggage for you then yes. If you are catching a connecting flight that has its check-in counter landside (such as Cebu Pacific) then it is highly unlikely. The reason is you must go through immigration, collect your bags, check in with Cebu Pacific and then go back through immigration and this must be done 45 minutes before the flight's departure time.

Not questioning the value of the dog. It's just that they don't put minors in jail for theft here and when you mentioned teenage girl I was thinking she was a minor.

Have a teenage girl put in jail for years for stealing a dog? Someone is pulling your leg.

This bothers me: After all that, are they just pushing the waste further out into the sea and hoping it does not wash back up on the beach? Fat chance of that. Here is the link. There are some interesting pics on it http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/multimedia/slideshow/08/16/18/this-is-how-boracay-looks-like-then-and-now

I would love to, Bruce, but observations over a decade make this an essay type question. There are dozens of people I know who have turned out alright (such as yourself and Jack). There are dozens of people who have had extreme misfortune (such as my friends Bob and Lee losing their house to a filipina or Gene and Henk getting assassinated etc). There are dozens who have just had bad experiences (such as spending a fortune to build the house and then having to sell it for half what they bought it for (like my friend Billy) or just leave it to rot when they went back to their home country (like my acquaintances Jim and his wife). And there are some who have good AND bad luck because they persevere. Let's talk about that one. Good and bad. Here is a summary. A friend bought some land on the beach in an excellent location (in his Filipina wife's name) and proceeded to build a resort. It was a fast success. So much of a success that the governor of the island came to him and told him that he would have to move. The governor said whoever sold him the land and permits had made a mistake because there was a plan to build a fish sanctuary on that spot. So he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and moved on to a less than perfect location and built another seaside resort. It took a lot of work, constant rebuilding when typhoons hit, and a hell of a great attitude to make it work. But it worked. Sure there are times when he wishes he was not tied to that resort. I know he realizes it would be a tough sell if he were ever to sell it. But he is fortunate enough to have never invested more than he can walk away from if he must. That is the secret. Not much of a secret as we should all know it. But few listen to that all important part. For the record, there is still no fish sanctuary at that original spot and the governor now owns that piece of land.

I heard they have a guy working on a sign when its all done that says: 欢迎中国赌徒 Huānyíng zhōngguó dǔ tú

Well that explains it

You asked how expats feel about owning land. I feel that the personal experiences of expats who have land holdings for many years are not a recommendation to buy property. There are many "workarounds" that people use but I have seen none that are failsafe. NOTE I did not say its a bad thing. I am saying that basing a decision to buy property on other people's experience is filled with pitfalls here. To me, Bruce, it means you did sufficient homework to make up your mind. You proceded to make a purchase. You got lucky over the years that none of the potential problems that others have had came up to bite you in the arse. All we can say is congrats and I am happy for you. I also got lucky, so far. It feels good to be one of the lucky ones. I find the discussion on "how safe is property buying" to be very similar to the discussion on "how safe is Mindanao as a place to live". The only correct answer, IMHO, is "It works for me, your mileage will vary". (Or the opposite stance.) 5 years ago I would sit in the coffee shop in Naval Biliran with Gene Abrams and Henk Nuits who did remarkably well in their property dealings and who said exactly the same as the quote from RBM. A few years later, each was assassinated as a direct result of their land dealings. It does not happen to everybody, but it is a recognized risk. Since the time I arrived on Philippine shores, over a decade ago, I have listened to the oldtimers who told horror stories about why it is better to rent and not buy. Like them, I have lived to see those horror stories unfold over a decade and the advice is true. But its also true that there is a steady supply of new property buyers getting off the plane every day and some (many?) of them will have drama free property holdings that will keep them happy for the rest of their life. Each individual has to toss a coin as to whether it is for them. My personal observation is that 50% (my estimate) of foreigner involved property purchases end up with the foreigner saying "I shouldn't have done that". Let us hope all of us here are in the "good" 50%. Best wishes to all who bought property here. Either for themselves or their spouse or kids.

I have seen a few from time to time but not overrun with them. Hmmmm. For those who have never seen an earwig before, it looks a bit like this But seriously Jack, I've only seen a few real ones and not had any do any harm, yet.

It is acceptable advice. It is wise advice. It is advice that most readers will not listen to. Groucho Marx put it succinctly

You've been listening to their stories They teach each other what to say, you know.