The Philippines, Your Positive Or Negative Thoughts

[Mr Lee]

Well all, I think it is much better to be an old fart (me is too) :cheers: than a wet fart :tiphat: which me does not wish to beez.

[Singers]

Well all, I think it is much better to be an old fart (me is too) :565: than a wet fart :tiphat: which me does not wish to beez.

Hi Lee,As usual your post is on TARGET! :cheers:

[Jake]

Wow, very interesting post Inspector -- your acute observation of foreigners/expats living in 3rd world countries is right on. I especially admire your philosophy of: "The fact is, you can't put sugar on sh&t and make it taste better. Third world countries are sh&t, and yes, the young pretty ladies are the sugar, but the sh&t is still sh&t". (Positive) If I may be permitted to add one more thing to your profound statement: Filipina brown sugar was always my favorite anyway. Most of us expats are in our senior years with some issues remaining even beyond mid-life crisis. And then to be pampered at the heat of the moment, the old ticker gets recharged once more and all your worries disappear as you watch a beautiful sunsetwith a cold San Magoo. Many of us tends to stay for a little while longer or even return to enjoy it permanently. What the hell --it's an escape/excuse to leave old worries behind, only to acquire new set of problems in the tropical paradise. (Negative) When it comes down to rejuvenating your mojo with a young and beautiful lady, one could conveniently forget or look the other way regarding the abject poverty and corruption surrounding your tropical world. In my hometown of Olongapo, the phrase "Hey Joe, throw me coin" originated from young ladies that were victims of poverty and government corruption. Many farmers displaced from Mt Pinatubo eruption had to "sell their daughters" in order to feed the rest of his family. The corruption machine is well lubricated and will get a fresh oil change before this coming primary election in May. Political rhetoric is nothing more than a pitcher full of warm spit when promises are made to the poor. In reality, the 3 G's -- guns, goons and gold are the primary tools of the trade in the Philippines. Could this practice be eradicated -- not within my lifetime. In the meantime, could I have another cold San Magoo?Respectfully -- Jake

Edited April 2, 2010 by Jake

[Inspector]

Wow, very interesting post Inspector -- your acute observation of foreigners/expats living in 3rd world countries is right on. I especially admire your philosophy of: "The fact is, you can't put sugar on sh&t and make it taste better. Third world countries are sh&t, and yes, the young pretty ladies are the sugar, but the sh&t is still sh&t". If I may be permitted to add one more thing to your profound statement: Filipina brown sugar was always my favorite anyway. Most of us expats are in our senior years with some issues remaining even beyond mid-life crisis. And then to be pampered at the heat of the moment, the old ticker gets recharged once more and all your worries disappear as you watch a beautiful sunsetwith a cold San Magoo. Many of us tends to stay for a little while longer or even return to enjoy it permanently. What the hell --it's an escape/excuse to leave old worries behind, only to acquire new set or worries in the tropical paradise. When it comes down to rejuvenating your mojo with a young and beautiful lady, one could conveniently forget or look the otherway regarding the abject poverty and corruption surrounding your tropical world. In my hometown of Olongapo, the phrase"Hey Joe, throw me coin" originated from young ladies that were victims of poverty and government corruption. Many farmersdisplaced from Mt Pinatubo eruption had to "sell their daughters" in order to feed the rest of his family. The corruption machineis well lubricated and will get a fresh oil change before this coming primary election in May. Political rhetoric is nothing morethan a pitcher full of warm spit when promises are made to the poor. In reality, the 3 G's -- guns, goons and gold are the primarytools of the trade in the Philippines. Could this practice be eradicated -- not within my lifetime. In the meantime, could I have another cold San Magoo?Respectfully -- Jake

Excellent and well thought out post Jake, and I agree with everything you said. I have spent many, many, many days and nights in Olongapo, and could write a book on some of my humorous, and not so funny tales of my times there. One thing I will always find distasteful was the famed sh&t river and the river boat queen who would expose herself to the drunk sailors and have some young kids dive in for the pesos thrown down her way. I used to get into in some heated arguments with fellow shipmates because of this...never found it the right thing to do, but when you are poor to the point of starving, I guess there will be this kind of behavior on both sides. As far as the brown sugar, there is NOTHING wrong with needing, wanting or enjoying love, or even the lust aspects of a relationship. That is as natural as my fear of ok-ok...speaking of, last night I stepped carefully in the CR for my nightly pee and the light was burnt out, and ended up stepping in a load of dog crap instead of a roach. BTW, the USA is argued as much at fault for the decline of this once beautiful country as is the government of the Philippines. :tiphat:

[love2winalot]

Hiya: No Matter where you live, be it in your own country, or oversea's, if the main reason you are there is taken away, what do you do now? I have seen people move to Hawaii, "We lioved there for 8 years", because of the weather, ocean, beaches, ect. Then discover that they had to work 2 jobs, 7 days a week because of how expensive it is, and they never get to go to the beach/ocean, ect, and after a few months moved back to the mainland.For us, it is a simple question. If something happened to your Wife, and she passed away, would you stay in the Philippines? For me, i have actually thought about this. Would i still help support my deceased wifes family? Would, "Guilt" drive me insane if i decided not to? At age, 27........umm i mean 38........ok i mean 47........fine, 52 damn it happy now. Would i have any desire at all to re marry? and so on. For me all the answers are I would stay. I am one of those who has no desire to get rich. You do not get rich in the Army, and you do not get rich managing small apartments. So it just comes down to, "What makes you happy?" imhop, It is really hard to be Happy, if you are not Commited to the things that make you happy. It is like being married, but always looking at other women, and wondering if you make the right choice. It is waking up in the morning and wondering what waking up in Mexico, or Panama, or Eccudor, or someplace else would be like? The grass really might be greener on the other side of the fence, but if you spend all day sitting on the fence, looking at the grass on the other side, it becomes easy to forget that the grass in your yard is pretty nice to, and was the reason you bought that house in the first place.

[Mr Lee]

Hiya: No Matter where you live, be it in your own country, or oversea's, if the main reason you are there is taken away, what do you do now? I have seen people move to Hawaii, "We lioved there for 8 years", because of the weather, ocean, beaches, ect. Then discover that they had to work 2 jobs, 7 days a week because of how expensive it is, and they never get to go to the beach/ocean, ect, and after a few months moved back to the mainland.For us, it is a simple question. If something happened to your Wife, and she passed away, would you stay in the Philippines? For me, i have actually thought about this. Would i still help support my deceased wifes family? Would, "Guilt" drive me insane if i decided not to? At age, 27........umm i mean 38........ok i mean 47........fine, 52 damn it happy now.

[bundynbeaches]

"Oh and one more thing that bothers me is I cant get my wife to switch to mashed potatoes instead of rice lol . "Me either !!!"You can't put yourself in a hungry persons situation as you eat a pastrami sandwich on a cam, or dine at the marco polo buffet. "Walk the streets of Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia after dark at your peril. The guy that tries to rob you at knife/gunpoint is trying to feed a family.'BTW, the USA is argued as much at fault for the decline of this once beautiful country as is the government of the Philippines"There are Western govts all over the world with a lot to answer for ..........................There are all sorts of interesting lines / quotes / opinions here which make for an interesting conversation over a good few beers.The Chinese have a saying (as they have sayings about all sorts of sh*t) that stuck to me.It goes something along the lines of (this is translated from Chinese to Australian mind you) that ........ "You can put silk on a pig, but it is still a pig !"The '(brown)sugar' that is mentioned a few times is only for the sweet tooth and only covers the surface. Soon wears thin if that's all you're here for.I've been lucky enough to have travelled through and stayed in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore a few times each and would pick Philippines every time. My choice to move there, my choice to leave .............................After three years of living (not rostered) in a country that doesn't allow me to drive, travel freely, access a lot of internet sites, eat consistently decent food, travel on consistently decent roads, buy consistently good quality items, etc, etc, etc, etc, ........ it all comes down to why I stayed here so long.Short answer is .............. the people we met and friends we made and experiences we had. There is nothing wrong with the average Chinaman trying to hold a job and support a family.From what I have seen on my many visits to the Philippines, it is no different there either, despite all the the things that are wrong with the system.It'll do me, and the lady I'm trying to get to mash some potatoes for supper one night !

[Jake]

Wow, very interesting post Inspector -- your acute observation of foreigners/expats living in 3rd world countries is right on. I especially admire your philosophy of: "The fact is, you can't put sugar on sh&t and make it taste better. Third world countries are sh&t, and yes, the young pretty ladies are the sugar, but the sh&t is still sh&t". (Positive) If I may be permitted to add one more thing to your profound statement: Filipina brown sugar was always my favorite anyway. Most of us expats are in our senior years with some issues remaining even beyond mid-life crisis. And then to be pampered at the heat of the moment, the old ticker gets recharged once more and all your worries disappear as you watch a beautiful sunsetwith a cold San Magoo. Many of us tends to stay for a little while longer or even return to enjoy it permanently. What the hell --it's an escape/excuse to leave old worries behind, only to acquire new set of problems in the tropical paradise. (Negative) When it comes down to rejuvenating your mojo with a young and beautiful lady, one could conveniently forget or look the other way regarding the abject poverty and corruption surrounding your tropical world. In my hometown of Olongapo, the phrase"Hey Joe, throw me coin" originated from young ladies that were victims of poverty and government corruption. Many farmersdisplaced from Mt Pinatubo eruption had to "sell their daughters" in order to feed the rest of his family. The corruption machineis well lubricated and will get a fresh oil change before this coming primary election in May. Political rhetoric is nothing morethan a pitcher full of warm spit when promises are made to the poor. In reality, the 3 G's -- guns, goons and gold are the primarytools of the trade in the Philippines. Could this practice be eradicated -- not within my lifetime. In the meantime, could I have another cold San Magoo?Respectfully -- Jake

Excellent and well thought out post Jake, and I agree with everything you said. I have spent many, many, many days and nights in Olongapo, and could write a book on some of my humorous, and not so funny tales of my times there. One thing I will always find distasteful was the famed sh&t river and the river boat queen who would expose herself to the drunk sailors and have some young kids dive in for the pesos thrown down her way. I used to get into in some heated arguments with fellow shipmates because of this...never found it the right thing to do, but when you are poor to the point of starving, I guess there will be this kind of behavior on both sides. As far as the brown sugar, there is NOTHING wrong with needing, wanting or enjoying love, or even the lust aspects of a relationship. That is as natural as my fear of ok-ok...speaking of, last night I stepped carefully in the CR for my nightly pee and the light was burnt out, and ended up stepping in a load of dog crap instead of a roach. BTW, the USA is argued as much at fault for the decline of this once beautiful country as is the government of the Philippines. :morning1:

The statement whether tourist/expats are only motivated to visit solely based on the Filipina, may be true in many cases. I must agree that most relationships do occur in the Philippines but one must not overlook the wonderful relationships that also bloomed outside the island. Let's look at Singapore for example: here is this lovely Filipina, somewhat lost and seriously homesick. Your paths somehow crossed, maybe as a result from a match maker (friends, office workers, church group) or by sheer coincidence or by faith. I believe these types of relationship are more meaningful, especially when corny love letters/poetry, international phone calls and delivery of flowers are needed to maintain that chemistry. And then finally, the day of reunion arrives and you're both ecstatic to see each other -- you're at your new home now, the Philippines.The negative aspect of the Philippines have been discussed but at this point in our lives, we need to just roll with the punches. The corruption, poverty, cultural differences, etc will still be there long after we are gone. Due to circumstances that are beyond our control (financial, divorce), we all took a gigantic risk of rejuvenating our spirit by starting a new life in a strange land. It's like the turtle -- in order to progress in life, he needs to stick his neck out every now and then. Or miss an opportunity of a lifetime.Respectfully -- Jake

[MattFromGA]

Well, as with many things in my life, I seem to be the exception to the reasonings listed on this thread. My birthday is coming this month and I will turn 42, so I'm still not "an old fart" (but can feel that one coming around the bend sooner than I want it to). When I moved here in Jan 06, it was to start up a business and to build up my product. I can understand CebuExpat comments:

I lost alot, a whole lot. Girls, Govenment, Thinking like a foreigner, and not really knowing what I was getting into really cost me..... I believe my life would have been so great, and I could have lived like a king. I was lucky to have a good amount when I arrived. But, thinking I could really do good here, not researching, not listening to other foreigners here. Thinking I was smarter than someone who been here for long time... I just really screwed up.

I also started my business "cold", even though I was an expert in my field and I was starting a business in my field, I was completely new to trying to manage employees and doubly so for managing Filipinos. Sure, I have been a "team lead" and directed other developers on a software project, but I had never been bottom line responsible for their behavior and ultimately take on the success or failure of the efforts. I was always paid regardless of how the team performed. I had massive problems running the team here and paid dearly for it, just like CebuExpat stated. I have also been able to recover from that and continue to build up my product almost 5 years running now. I understand the business and Filipinos much better than before and I an now "ready" to run the business.Running a business is hard no mater where you start it. Sure, there are even more issues to deal with here in the Philippines when you are a newbie foreigner trying to start a business, but it almost sounds like some foreigners think they would have been wildly successful with the same business in their home land I am fairly sure that would not be true. I think I would have had problems in the US trying to do what I did here, if it was even possible for me to do so. I do know that I could not have built up my product like I have if I had stayed in the US, because the cost of living and other responsibilities would have forced me to keep working in the consulting world.I also got tired of the western woman as a wife, and every time I go back to the USA that feeling is reaffirmed. Without a doubt I am a male chauvinist, though not the "pig" type variety. So, living here in the Philippines does seem to be a bit easier for me in that area as well. That is not to say that married life with a Filipina is problem free, as that would be a BS story from anyone's mouth. One big factor I enjoy about being married to my wife here in Cebu is that I dont feel like I am going to die of a heart attack from the nagger wife like I felt back in the US with my first wife. Though, I still have to put up with some nagging, its not the same as back in the US.To cut it short; when I live in Cebu, I get to drive my life my way. I decide our family's life decisions and deal with the consequences. I get to do what I want day to day within the context of my responsibilities. In the US, my responsibilities are more costly and the balance is different enough to where I would be on a tread mill I cannot get off. Third world? Well, kind of, but... I did get to see Avatar in 3D. I do get to eat out when I want, and its good enough food for me. I'm not much of a "mall rat", but Ayala seems damn good to me. I get to drive my motorcycle and it feels good. Overall, I'm significantly happier living here that I would be in the US. I know that my situation is unique in a way that makes that true for me while not true for many other men that give it a go here. I also know my situation could change in the future to where I would be happier if I moved my family somewhere else on the planet, and I'm ready to make that decision when the balance of things changes to make that so.

[tropicalwaste]

When I originally came to the Philippines it was simply to meet April as we had met online and just got to know each other shortly after we married and I moved here. Was I a bitter foreigner coming here for salvation and to live in exile away from Western women? to be honest I had left my ex long-time girlfriend of 11 years before I came here and had no interest in finding a new partner. It was just that me and April clicked the first time we met online and have stayed that way for nearly 3 years so far. I think there is some truth in people assuming the majority of males come here to find a wife because its very often they are but its also important to not forget that there is a lot of people that are still less than 50, working and have chosen to come here. I could have just as easily taken April back to the UK but I can honestly say I hate what the UK has become. But I also find it offensive the assumption that every one who comes here is assumed to be American and after some 19 year old. It's what we call in the West "Racism" and its a big problem in the Philippine but more from Filipino's abroad who seem to have a grudge on the problem.. they can complain about Foreigners working or retiring in the Philippines but yet live in the U.S. or some other country.. but funny thing is my only complaint about the UK and immigration is the uncontrolled and illegal sectors not people with valid genuine visas because at the end of the day if they are legally allowed to be there then obviously anything that is wrong is down to the government not the people coming or me.. Getting back on topic..I find the issue of people trying to overprice everything a headache in the Philippines especially when it doesn't make any sense worse offenders being some people who are supposed to be friends. Corruption here is everywhere yet you can work round it most things at a local level don't involve politicians or government services if you can keep things that way all the easier your life is made. Lack of first world goods sometimes is an issue for me as getting things made is not only time consuming but normally involves getting it after I need it would be nice for a store to open up which actually caters for foreigners here which are willing to pay a premium to get better service. I could write a long list of the negatives but purely like I said like the corruption it can all be worked round and the same goes for anything I need I can get it shipped in the issue is always time for me as im not one for waiting..But on the positive side I have been able to secure a future already in less than 3 years that will continue to grow and already supports 8 people something I tried in the UK and found I was bogged down in too much paperwork and over taxation as well as heavily inflated rents. I have owned and managed companies before and the UK is probably one of the worst places to do business corruption is just as bad there as it is here difference is its not so obvious but it is more expensive.. The other thing I like about here is I can hire people when I need them and generally its cheap. I want to do a bit of community work in the future but it will involve no direct money and people supplying labour to carry out the work as I am well aware of how money can quickly vanish here regardless if in the hands of an NGO, politician or priest not saying they are all like that mind just the fact I personally don't trust any of them. But will see if they are prepared for work to be done on the local school soon or will the be pushing for the money instead.. I also find the community spirit exists here as long as you keep money out of the equation as other people have said on other topics regarding "giving things" its suddenly a free for all.. I purely think its better to not even entertain those facts. Do something with the materials with you there and get people that want it done to do it.. reason I want them to do it myself is its their community doing it myself is unlikely to get the same respect.The Philippines has a lot going for it and its very easy to complain but its the positive aspects you need to dig deep and find.. otherwise you will just be as miserable as the country you left!