Last Meals And Things To Do Before I Leave In 4 Days For My Long Vist To The Philippines This Winter

[Adventurer]

here are 5 things off the top of my head

1, have a big joint and not worry about spending life in jail

2. drive a car through the city and experience mostly a actual way for traffic to be managed (it's debatable if this is good or bad)

3. go for a swim in a beautiful scenic beach without seeing a piece of litter (not all countries apply)

4. walk around a mall and enjoy not been noticed or that anyone even looks at you so you can feel like you have no care in the world or worry what anyone thinks of you as they don;t give a sh&t to be honest

5. eat at a restaurant and enjoy getting what you ordered and the menu items are in stock

[earthdome]

Ok, now the topic can be changed to The First Four Days Of My Retirement and long visit to Philippines....

That's it for now... I need to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow.

Once again... wow... the last 4 days have been a whirlwind.

Wow, for a bubble head (a formal US Navy sub sailor), you really got your chit together!

Thank you shipmate for the excellent field report.

Respectfully -- Jake

Thanks.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Sounds like things are going very well for you. And yes, not bad for a bubble head! Let's hope this tin can sailor can do as well next month :tiphat:

[earthdome]

Obviously he had not spent time learning much about this in advance.. I actually helped explain it to him a bit after he sat back down next to me.

Thank you from me that you helped another expat who knew nothing(?),

maybe you made a friend in the BI

I also managed to open up both a USD and peso bank account with BPI within 2 days of arriva

could you share w/us how the process went at BPI? do you feel comfortable w/them?

you have selected a very good bank. wish you a long-term sucess w/them

( i have had my account(s) since 2002 satisfied as best as you can w/a RP firm.)

AND most of all welcome to the philippines. :tiphat:

I went to the local BPI branch in the morning to inquire about their requirements for a non resident to open a bank account. There was no wait... the teller immediately directed me to an assistant manager who answered all my questions. With this BPI branch I was asked to provide 3 things in order to open an account. My passport, a passport photo for each account being opened and the certification of good standing from the BI. You get the BI certification as part of obtaining your first visa extension. The passport photo is attached to each account holder doc. I expect this is to use your photo in addition to your signature for major transactions. For the peso ATM account minimum balance is 3000PHP. The USD account has a $500 minimum balance.

I had taken my startup money as cash with me to the Philippines. It was a relief to be able to deposit it in the bank so I was no longer carrying larger sums of cash on my person. I should get the ATM cards in 1 week.

FYI, their posted USD/php exchange rate wasn't too bad and both the USD and peso account I opened are ATM accounts. I will get an ATM card for each and can do transactions online. Transferring money from the USD account to the peso account online gives you the absolute best exchange rates the bank provides.

So far, yes, I feel very comfortable with BPI. I saw a story in the business news in the last few weeks that BPI was merging with another Philippine bank. I don't recall which one. I didn't notice any employees gossiping during my time at the bank. All seemed very professional.

[Thomas]

their posted USD/php exchange rate wasn't too bad

NOTE! KEEP that currency change note USD to peso. If I have understood corect, you can need it as proof, if you want to switch back/move biger amounts out of the Philippines sometimes in the future.

[Classic Dry]

Way to go earthdome ! Thanks for the report. ( That's not to say you can stop !) :cheersty:

It all adds up to a useful guide for me.