So How Did You Meet Your Gf, Bf, Wife, Husband?

[Mr Lee]

I ended up divorced from my first and only wife before Nila in 1991 after being together for over 20 years and being married 16.5 of those years, so I decided that I really wanted to travel around Asia and just say the heck with it all and with the hopes of finding a new place to live. Well life does not always work the way we plan and things got in the way such as the sale of property that just never seemed to sell and some other personal issues and then there was getting roped back into a business and a job that I really did not want to go back into but tried to do some friends a favor at my own happinesses expense. Anyway, for me it all began with an ad I put in one of those meet Asian friends sites and ended up with over a hundred letters. Thinking back on it I was 43 then and already retired from a good job and with a good pension and maybe I was thought to be a good catch because of my age and wanting to move to their country, boy were they wrong, but I do try my best to be a good husband for Nila and she gets the benefit of me learning from all my years of mistakes during my first marriage and before that. Well Nila was one of the first letters and she was not even looking for friends and her friend gave her my address and she just wrote for the heck of it and when I got her letter something just kept nagging at me that she was the right one yet I continued to write to others as friends with hopes of traveling around and having tour guides in a number of areas and I never lied to anyone and never told them that I was seeking a wife but also said that it would be possible if things fell into place. I guess Nila may never have written to me if I had not said that it was my wish to move to Asia and that the Philippines was on the list of places that I might like to settle. Well things progressed and time flew by and before I knew it three years had passed before I was finally able to break away from my 2 businesses and part time job. I then went for a long visit and the rest is history but I also helped some of the other ladies who I had thought were good catches and set them up with other people I knew and as far as I know they are still married. One lives up state Florida and has 2 teenage children and one lives in Davao and turned out to be a real nut guy IMO and then there were others I lost track of. Not sure I did any of the ladies a favor including my wife but I guess nothing in life is perfect and I know that I am lucky that my wife decided to marry me and stick with me, so all in all life is great. I only wish things had worked out differently and that I had walked away from those businesses and job and just moved to CDO way back then and had a much simpler and stress free life and I could have been one of those guys living on a beach and eating grapes :welcome: or maybe it would have been tuba! :541: I guess it was good that I was able to take off a lot of time and spend it in the Philippines but living there full time all these years would have been better IMO.So how did you all meet your better half's or how do you intend to?

[FlyAway]

Met my wife through a pen pal list in 2000. She was working in Hong Kong as a DH. I found out that it was a friend of hers who put her photo and name on the list. Parker had stacks of letters and did not know why. We ended up writing back and forth for several years. Then we progressed to instant messenger. She was working there to put her 5 younger brothers and sisters through school. She also put her mother through school to get her doctorate in education. She did not want a serious relationship till they were taken care of. Parker never asked me for a cent.In 2003 a family friend traveled to Hong Kong on a group trip. She met Parker and thought she was a nice lady. In 2004 my mother took the same trip and met her as well. Amazing how I had not seen her in person yet a long time family friend and my mother had.May 2005, I finally go to Hong Kong to meet her. After 5 years of letters and instant messenger we seemed to hit it off. She showed me many of the sites in Hong Kong in a few days. We then flew to Manila and met her sisters. They are both now PNP Officers. The oldest brother is an officer in the Philippine Army, the middle is a Civil Engineer, and the youngest is just completing technical training.After a few days there we flew to Davao and were met by her parents. We rented a van for the trip to her home town of Kabacan. Parker and I discussed getting a fiance' visa before hand. Her parents had other plans. Seems there was going to be a wedding. You see they had already invited the sponsors. So I guess that means we were getting married there! We go to Kidapawan where her aunt is a nurse. She signs off on the required marriage counseling. Another aunt is a lawyer with the local court so all the applications get processed in record time. I agree to be married on Friday but the judge refused to do it. The Friday happened to be April 1, 2005. So the ceremony at the court house was Saturday April 2, 2005. While at the court house everyone was taking pictures. In one photo with her parents I asked the court bailiff to get in the photo to. He was carrying a shotgun. My wife Parker is still pissed off at that photo. She had never heard of a "Shot Gun" wedding.A day after the marriage we went back to Manila. Seems I needed an Affidavit of capacity to marry from the US Embassy, no problem. We went on a private tour of Corregidor. They have done an excellent job keeping it clean and pristine. Parker and her sister did not know the full history of the island. I mentioned the Filipino and American people that died in WWII are the reason they are not speaking Japanese. So after a week I end up having to come back home. My whole trip was 21 days. Parker went back to Hong Kong to finish her contract. I started processing her spousal VISA soon afterward. There were a few trips to Hong Kong before Parker finally arrived here in the U.S. in December 2006.2010 and we are still married. Like everyone we have our ups & downs but I have no regrets.

[jamesmusslewhite]

How I met my wife.I was Stationed with 3rd Marines Division with 7th Comm Bn. and FAP to 3rd Recon Bn. for 2 1/2 years on Okinawa Japan from 1984-1987. A group of fellow Marines and I would dive all around the island which sported some great beaches, and I had a small pickup truck and 8-12 of us would pile into that little truck with all of our gear. We must have been a sight for the locals; wetsuits, tank rigs, coolers and a bunch of big kids hanging on the truck as we drove down some of those goat path roads to the secluded dive spots locations. Some were so steep that the guys would jump out and help push that little Toyota truck up some of them.One Sunday I wanted to dive some of the wrecks, remnants of the Japaneses navel ships that litter the bottom around the coast line of Okinawa. I were late to Special Services to get double tank rigs, only solo tanks and no extras. Meant no deep dives, so after I used my single tank I decided to just snorkel while waiting for friends to finish their dives and return to my truck. We had plenty of iced beer to kill before we went back to base. Rule 1 never drink till after the dives.I met her while snorkeling off Moon Beach on Okinawa that Sunday in 1985, I always wore a full-body grey wetsuit with a black stripe up each side. I was following a coral line and was focused only what was below me. I bumped into something with my head and when I raised up out of the water, a little 4' 11"" 89lb. girl left the water. I was standing in chest high water with a girl standing on my head, screaming and clinging like a cat. She thought I was a shark when I bumped her from behind. She left the water! I was trying to peal her off my head and when she realized I was a man and not a shark, well I first experienced her temper. I calmed her down and then we spoke, she told me her name and where she lived.She was a blue card international solo dancer working for her aunt, she ran a talent agency booking dancers for 2 Hotels and a Casino on Okinawa. They were there to check on the condition that their contracted dance groups were being housed and treated. These were high end establishments, and not the little buy-me-drink-clubs or strip clubs that riddled Okinawa. It took me an hour to calm her down, and once I got her calm, then her aunt came running up. Now she had a temper, she did not like her niece talking to a G.I. at all, and had no problem telling me so. But it was too late I had her address, and somehow I still remembered it.I wrote her almost every day over the next 8 months before I came to the Philippines to visit her. Over the next year I returned 4 more times and spent time with her. I started the paperwork process to marry her before I was discharged and returned to the States. 7 more months of paperwork, and we got her Fiancee Visa. She flew to the States in late 1987 were we were married. We love each other now as much as 24 years ago.Once I came to see her on X-mas eve in 1986 and caught several military milk run flights, hopping from country to country, to get to Clark Air Base where she came from Quezon City meet me. I had a rum and coke drink in Gate 2 Kadena, Okinawa; Seoul, Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; and Angeles City, Philippines all on X-mas eve the same day. I miss the military.

Edited January 8, 2010 by jamesmusslewhite

[Mr Lee]

Thanks guys for your stories and I hope others will tell theirs so people can learn from them and realize that not all Filipinas are scammers as some members on some forums seem to like to make them out to be.

[FlyAway]

jamesmusslewhite,I was stationed at Kadena from 1984~1987 as well. Ever see a White 1974 Pontiac Formula Firebird ripping around the island?There were so many filipina women working the cheap night clubs there ones head would spin. Several I knew that married dancers there ended in disaster. Good to hear she had an aunt looking out for her. To me, it shows she had class and a caring family. They say there are many fish in the sea, well it sounds like you both caught each other.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Eric

[jamesmusslewhite]

jamesmusslewhite,I was stationed at Kadena from 1984~1987 as well. Ever see a White 1974 Pontiac Formula Firebird ripping around the island? There were so many filipina women working the cheap night clubs there ones head would spin. Several I knew that married dancers there ended in disaster. Good to hear she had an aunt looking out for her. To me, it shows she had class and a caring family. They say there are many fish in the sea, well it sounds like you both caught each other.

I was stationed at Hanson and Schwab 1985-87 stayed mostly in Kinville. But I spend a lot of time slamming rainbow and Mojos in Gate 2 and strolled whisper ally more than once. I remember that car, there were some hot rodders that hopped up rice burners just outside of Okanawa City and Naha. Seems I saw that car often at their meet ups and on the Expressway down by the camp Foster area. You would run up to Nago often because it seem like I saw it up North often. My wife was in a professional Philippine dance group called the "Wea Dances" her bosses were Clair De la puente and Eva Eugenio. She also helped her Aunt who ran a talent agency booking group dancers, singers, and bands in the Philippines, mainland Japan and Okinawa. They were visiting Okinawa to check on the working and living conditions that the Clubs, Hotels, and Casinos were providing for their talents. There were a lot of Yakuza rip joints that were operating at that time. They were bound by contracts and her Aunt ran a tight ship and never backed down. She sued several establishments out of business because they broke contract agreements or committed infractions against her personal. She was a tough woman, she could be a pit-bull if you crossed her. I guess the American equivalent of the Wea Dancers would be our own Solid Gold Dancers. My wife performed on Philippine television several times. She was an International Solo Blue Card performer. Damn she could dance and has a professional singing voice as well. She is too damn good for me. Boy did I get the better end of the deal when we got married. I married up, she is the Grand Niece of President Carlos P. Garcia, her Grandmother was his sister. She speaks 12 Dialects, Tagalog, and English, plus can feneticly reads Spanish and Vietnamese. She is a hell of a lot smarter than me. Edited January 9, 2010 by jamesmusslewhite

[FlyAway]

Ah yes, the Rainbows! I occasionally make them for parties. Time consuming but great to drink. There was only one bar I remember making them. It was between Gate 2 and Kokusai street? Not a girlie bar either, more close to the shopping center.With all the dumb antics pulled in the Firebird, I feel lucky to be alive. Back then I see myself as being young and stupid. Amazing how at high speed the expressway to Nago felt like one big curve. Considering all the runs up north at speeds in MPH vs. KPH, I never got a speeding or reckless driving ticket. They did get me for driving a defective vehicle twice. The busted exhaust manifold and then the headers with cherry bomb glass-packs did not go over well with the JP's. The first ticket is how I was first introduced to the Philippines. I went there with a duffel bag full of parts to be chromed. Came back with the cherry bombs along with the shiny new chrome parts! There was a lot of head scratching at the Clark AB x-ray scanner on that bag. Ended up making 3 trips all together. Bi weekly fights of the freedom bird were so convenient. I never had any luck with filipina women while there in Okinawa. Went on a few dates here and there but that was it. Visited some in Makati in the first part February 1986. An interesting time for the history buffs. Being young and stupid, I did not know what all the marching groups of people were all about. I left right as they recalled all U.S. Military back to the bases.