Dave Hounddriver

In the west, if there is a crime going on in your urban backyard it is dangerous so who do you call? I am betting you call the police and I bet they come. I am betting if it happened in the Philippines you would be hard pressed to find a number for the police that someone would answer and if you did get hold of someone they will often have an excuse why they cannot come. Such was my experience, your mileage will vary.

Well she did not get a tip but she did get something. Some friends are moving to Manila and decided to sell everything on the quick and buy new when they get there. So Lynne got a reasonably new stove to cook by brekkie on. Now she is happier cooking my breakfast and it is still better than a tip because if the shite ever hits the fan, it's my stove. There's a tip for ya, guys!

I figured out this tipping thing. Stay home and get the little woman to feed me. She never asks for a tip.

It probably depends on the country, the dampness in the soil and a huge number of other things but in rural Canada I am used to having only one ground rod so 3 earth rods sounded like overkill, until I read this article that says we are doing it wrong, (and should have a second earth rod), when we do our wiring in rural Canada like this pic. https://www.ecmweb.com/galleries/10-biggest-grounding-mistakes-avoid/gallery?slide=1 However, I would be happy if my house in the Philippines was grounded to a rod like that. The soil is damp enough that I believe a second or third earth rod is overkill but I couldn't blame you for putting in more rather than not enough. About grounding to water pipes, that used to be done in small-town Canada years ago but as JGF said, neighbors would get shocked touching their water pipes at times so it was outlawed.

I find it a rare thing, on this forum, for members to actually, listen, learn, react and succeed. Congrats for sharing how advice from this forum helped you You live up to the "Gentleman" in your moniker.

How long would it take for them to walk to school like so many of us did when we were kids?

The top building engineer (Joseph) at the best building contractor (Tierra Alta) in Dumaguete was putting electrical wiring in my friend's house and I was watching. It was not my business but I had to open my mouth and say: "Joseph, why are you putting in 2 prong outlets on a new, high end house? Doesn't the building code call for 3 prong outlets with one of them being a ground?" He said; (Direct quote) "Yes but we cannot do that because Noreco II does not supply a ground for us to attach it to." My friend was standing there and did not open his mouth so I shut mine. This is Philippines, it's how its done here. For anyone who does not "get it", the power company does not supply your ground. Your ground is a 5/8 inch copper rod power hammered at least 8 feet into the ground to which you will run a wire from your main breaker box and also from your lightning rod (which they also do not use here).

When I consider retirees from other South East Asian countries, Like South Korea, I see a significant impact on the overall economy. As of last year, the Chinese alone make up 34% of the foreign retirees in the Philippines.

I wonder if the motorcycle rules play a part, at least in Dumaguete. I notice my next door neighbors (Filipinos) are doing the same as me. We both own a car and a motorcycle but it is a pain to dress up in long pants, find the helmet, and wear shoes instead of flip flops to take a trip into town. Thus I notice that we, and they, use the car almost all the time now. The convenience of hopping on the motorcycle is just not there anymore. The motorcycles on the road may be a pain, but replace them with cars and you have more traffic.

You are free to tell of your experience. I can only tell of the ceremony at my subdivision that was attended by the mayor, barangay captain, many lawyers for the developers and the head of the company who is also a lawyer. The developers wanted to turn over the maintenance of the subdivision to a HOA they had "arranged" and one guy in the audience, who was a resident and knew his rights, said, in English: "The HOA you are forming has no legal standing as it must be formed democratically by the homeowners and until they do so it is the responsibility of the developers or the barangay to take care of the subdivision." Or words to that effect. The lawyers all backed down so he must have been right. But that was just my experience. Everyone's experience is different in the Philippines. To this day, 3 years later, the developers are looking after maintenance and security etc and it costs them much more than they want to pay and much more than they are allowed to collect in HOA fees. So it is what it is. I like it. The place is actually taken care of, unlike some places that got fobbed off onto a HOA.

There are more malls than I can count in Cebu. Ayala is the most expensive so if you want to spend/impress a lady by spending in the mall then that works. Personally, I would want to be closer to SM Mall or Robinson's Galleria. Since the price is not an issue for you then any of the nice places near Ayala are good. If the price is not an issue for a hotel but you don't want to spend foreign prices for mall items then I would suggest the Radisson at SM Mall. It will cost you a fortune for the hotel but it is right at SM Mall and just down the street from Robinson's Galleria, the North Bus terminal and all the ferry terminals, which will be important if girls are traveling to Cebu to meet you. You can take them shopping without spending Ayala prices, and you WILL take them shopping. It's what they want to do. If you want to meet "easy" girls and you have nothing lined up then you want to be downtown near Fuentes Circle. Robinson's Mall is there too.

We can hope. May he R.I.P.

The subdivision I live in is still managed by the developers. I am not sure of the legalities but I do know the developers had a meeting of residents to "Install" a Homeowner's Association" to take responsibility. One of the residents stood up and said it is not legal for them to do that. He said the residents must be the ones to form a Homeowner's Association and the developers cannot do that for them. Gossip after the meeting turned up the fact that the developer has much deeper pockets than any Homeowner's Association would have so we did not want one until and unless the developers pulled out and stopped taking care of things. HOA's are the smart resident's second choice when the developer runs out of money or abandons the project, IMHO.

. . . . because the servers need the extra money to support their booze, cigarette and drug habits. They cannot afford those on a regular salary and they cannot put up with the customers without the drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. (Just my observation of a few waitresses I knew way back when)

It would be interesting to compare Philippine banks that have gone broke in the last 10 years as compared to other countries. I'll start: Google gives us this list of Philippine Banks Closed Down from 2000 to 2017 Its a pretty poor showing but how does it compare to other countries?