Moving To The Philippines

[Mr Lee]

Food.In my original post above I mentioned that food will always be an issue for me in the Philippines and someone brought to my attention in an email, that they thought I do not like the food in the Philippines, and I guess I should clarify that it is not because I do not like it, but because it does not like me. I love Filipino food, it is just my whole life I just easily gain weight from carbs and my cholesterol seems to go up when I eat carbs and if I eat mostly protein, my cholesterol stays low so now being at 60 plus years old, I am now starting to worry about clogged arteries and the like and I really need to find a happy medium to keep those darn cholesterol figures down to make sure I am around a long time to be a continued annoyance to those people who hate me and to be here a long time for those people like my wife, who love me. That is why I thought I might try a veggie diet once we move fully to the Philippines and see what happens.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Mr. Lee

[tom_shor]

I'm not sliding further down the food chain for anybody. :D :23_11_60[2]:

[Mik]

Don't worry about your cholesterol levels. Go to google and type in cholesterol myth. http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/cholesterol_myth_1.htmlThe medical industry is a business. Be careful about following any advice. Eat the kind of food your grandparents ate and you will live longer. Modern low-fat diets are killing people.

[tom_shor]

Yes their advice keeps changing. The real problem is they really don't completly understand how everything works and is related to each other. It is a good idea to take their dietary advice with a grain of salt. (Unless you are on a low sodium diet. :23_11_60[2]: )

[Mr Lee]

Got you guys and I am not a believer in medical bs but the problem is that I have had some tests and my carotid artery on one side is already narrowing down due to one of my medical issues, and lack of flow to or from the brain is not a good thing, and I need all the little brain power I have :D so I am trying to keep it all in check, just in case. Dying is one thing, :welcome: losing the little bit of brain I still have is another. :23_11_60[2]:

[TheMason]

Before moving to the Philippines, what is involved?What things that need to be done ahead of time to make the transition easier?

The one major thing I overlooked was getting utlities hooked up in advance. It never ocurred to me that getting utilities hooked up would be a problem. I mean, businesses always value their customer's business and go out of their way to acquire new customers. Don't they? :9436: Our apartment already had water and electricity up and running when we moved there but phone, cable tv and Internet were a major problem to get set up. We had to go to multiple cable and Internet companies before we found one that serviced our area and had lines available. Each company took anywhere from 1-3 weeks to tell us if they had service in our area. It took 2 months to get everything in place with Internet taking the longest.Mind you, we don't live out in the sticks, we live on the edge of Baguio City but it was still hit and miss with service availability. If I had it all to do over again, I'd have had my wife start the process to open these accounts much earlier. Edited December 5, 2008 by TheMason

[Mr Lee]

Before moving to the Philippines, what is involved?What things that need to be done ahead of time to make the transition easier?

The one major thing I overlooked was getting utlities hooked up in advance. It never ocurred to me that getting utilities hooked up would be a problem. I mean, businesses always value their customer's business and go out of their way to acquire new customers. Don't they? :dreams: Our apartment already had water and electricity up and running when we moved there but phone, cable tv and Internet were a major problem to get set up. We had to go to multiple cable and Internet companies before we found one that serviced our area and had lines available. Each company took anywhere from 1-3 weeks to tell us if they had service in our area. It took 2 months to get everything in place with Internet taking the longest.Mind you, we don't live out in the sticks, we live on the edge of Baguio City but it was still hit and miss with service availability. If I had it all to do over again, I'd have had my wife start the process to open these accounts much earlier.

Thanks, dealing with companies and utilities in the Philippines is a nightmare and I guess for now, we are lucky that way....... I had the fellow Angelo who sold us our condos do all that for us and I just paid him for his time...... He offered to do it for free on his days off but I insisted on paying him and what a runaround they gave him...... We signed papers and then he had to come back and have more signed, they wanted barangy clearances and all type of stuff for the electric, but the cable was hooked up very fast and we had it the next day but they did zap our TV and it was luckily under warranty. The phone PLDT, as I remember took about 2 weeks and the dsl took another two weeks, and the process is like the stone age..... First they hook up the phone, with the wrong number mind you, :kidding: then they disconnect it for a day or so, and then turn it back on with the correct number, :wt-hell: they never told us and we started calling friends and giving them our number, only to have friends knocking on the door and asking why we do not answer the phone, then came the dsl, they disconnected the phone again :wt-hell: for a day and a half and then turned it back on and then only after I called to tell them I was going to cancel, did they finally send someone out and he had no idea how to hook up a router..... :1 (103): I still never got that hooked because it seems the modem they use, is also a router and I did not know that until it was almost time to leave and head back to the US... Then it was months of complaining on and off to get them to give me the speed I paid for. They would fix it and then a week later it was back to slow..... Their standard line to me was "up to" and I went back and forth with them and finally went into the office and said, if you can give me 500 kbps then charge me for 500 and not 1 meg, they could not get the concept until I asked, if you went to the store and bought ten bananas and came home to find only 5 or 6, would you be happy and willing to pay for the ten?, I said if you can supply one meg OK and if not then charge me for what you are giving me and I will be happy. When we left and for two weeks before, it was over 1 meg.Now all I have to say is that I only hope it is still working when we get back. I would bet it isn't and I have been paying for something that is not even there and I am sure it will take weeks to get fixed again. Customer service is one thing the Philippines really needs to learn, oh yes, they are very nice on the phone, but that is all they seem to know about service. :9436:

[tom_shor]

Got you guys and I am not a believer in medical bs but the problem is that I have had some tests and my carotid artery on one side is already narrowing down due to one of my medical issues, and lack of flow to or from the brain is not a good thing, and I need all the little brain power I have :kidding: so I am trying to keep it all in check, just in case. Dying is one thing, :wt-hell: losing the little bit of brain I still have is another. :9436:

I've had no blood flow to my brain for years. I'm still doing ok. If only the voices would stop. :wt-hell: :1 (103): Seriously that is something that needs to be watched for sure. Can they put a stint in it or is that only a treatment for the heart?

[Mr Lee]

Got you guys and I am not a believer in medical bs but the problem is that I have had some tests and my carotid artery on one side is already narrowing down due to one of my medical issues, and lack of flow to or from the brain is not a good thing, and I need all the little brain power I have :th_th7: so I am trying to keep it all in check, just in case. Dying is one thing, :728: losing the little bit of brain I still have is another. :9436:

I've had no blood flow to my brain for years. I'm still doing ok. If only the voices would stop. :D :dreams: Seriously that is something that needs to be watched for sure. Can they put a stint in it or is that only a treatment for the heart?

I think we share those voices, but it is Ok because they keep me company when I am alone. :wt-hell: :wt-hell: They can cut it open and ream it out, but they will only do that if it gets worse, so right now I am trying to prevent that. :1 (103): I love doctors, as long as they are taking care of someone else! :kidding:

[Mik]

Another thing to do before you move to the Philippines: make a list of reasons why you are moving here. After a year or two you may forget why you moved here and start to miss your home country. You might start saying to yourself, "what the **** am I doing here!" That's the time to pull out your list and review why you moved here. I have been here in Cebu over three years now and have been through various up and down emotional stages. I feel that I have finally adjusted mentally to living here. You got to put roots down somewhere.