GeoffH

I feel as safe in the north-east of Mindanao as I do in other parts of the Philippines. I’m more cautious in the west, but mainly because it’s a lot of hours from western type medical care than because I feel unsafe. There are some very pretty areas in the provinces.

Yup... same here, bought a new twin tub washing machine and it gets used and then the clothes are washed again (and scrubbed) in big plastic tubs. When I first noticed this I was confused, I glanced at the father in law, he shook his head slightly and was asked if I'd like to go out the front for a beer (which isn't common for us in the middle of the day), once there he subtly suggested that we 'not get involved with the women and the washing'. It sounds like that was very good advice

Would this work for you?

Cement dust is toxic, a dust mask is cheap insurance.

I might be wrong but I always thought that mozzi larva needed 'standing' water (ie still). If there is a pump and a fountain the turbulence might be enough to stop them, but fish would be an extra safety factor and they look good so yeah go with fish as well :)

You don't know she didn't start off with the intent to scam him and the guy has just had his world turned upside down. The last thing he needs is people blaming him.

You didn't mention travel insurance? And if you take US dollars try and take clean, new(ish) ones some money changers don't like old bills. I would suggest changing some money at the airport before you leave, so you've got cash for getting around Manila. There are several money changers at NAIA (depending upon what terminal you arrive at). It would be useful to download the 'Grab' app on your phone and register, it's lots cheaper (and generally much better service) than the taxis. Speaking of taxis there are several types at the airport, yellow 'airport' taxis, white 'normal' taxis and voucher taxis.

If you don't want to spend a lot on a phone then the Samsung J series are a popular choice. The Samsung J7 Pro offers good performance and screen size at a much cheaper price than their flagship S series or even their midrange A series but manages to keep most of the user experience of their more expensive models. If you want a smaller screen then there is also the J5 Pro. Make sure you buy a dual SIM version as there are both single and dual SIM versions available. There are a myriad of chinese phones but I struggle to keep up with the models to be honest.

I am sorry to hear that you found out you were being scammed, I know how that sucks (personal experience, happened to me with a previous Girl Friend). Just a small piece of advice if I may... don't let revenge become your experience of the Philippines, there really are some wonderful women here.

If you're happy with Pirate Bay then there is no real reason to change.

You should be able to connect any smart TV using wifi to your cable or ADSL router but I find that external streaming boxes tend to offer better menus and snappier performance so I use an Apple TV on my LG smart TV in the main sala but not on the smaller Samsung smart TV in the main bedroom (because it doesn't get used as much). You can download some Netflix content to devices like iPads but other content doesn't allow downloading, I've never been able to figure out the logic behind what is and what is not permitted (maybe it's license issues not sure). However it's not easy to get the content off the iPad and onto another device so I use the Apple TV and screen mirror (using AirPlay) from the iPad to play downloaded Netflix content.

I just use my Australian Netflix subscription in the Philippines, it works without issue in the Philippines. Maybe US Netflix is different because they have more content than other countries so they geographically restric it and you can't use without a VPN?

Diflocenac Sodium 1% Topical Gel (Voltarin generic) was available in the Pharmacy in the mall in Cagayan De Oro (last time I ran out of Voltarin I'd bought from Australia) so I'd be surprised if it wasn't also available elsewhere in the Philippines. And yes it's very effective I've found.

You can buy cheap external memory card readers with USB cables that plug into the USB slot on your laptop or desktop computer, you just put the card in to the card reader and transfer the information on the card to the computer. You can get much cheaper ones but the really cheap ones are a bit dodgy sometimes. Kingston is a good brand for this sort of product IMHO. Kingston External card reader - Lazada

I own a dashcam (and in it's price range I think it's good) but it doesn't meet the criteria stated in your original post so I didn't mention it. There are a couple of more expensive models in the range but this one gets good reviews on car camera web sites. https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/viofo-updated-a119-v2-capacitor-novatek-car-gps-dash-camera-hd-2k-1440p-1296p-1080p-intl-i102567561-s102844330.html?spm=a2o4l.searchlistbrand.list.26.19526c33HWtQzG&search=1