Living in the Philippines

Opening a Bank Account in the Philippines

2011-03-21T13:22:00.002+01:00

It's been several years, since I opened my last bank account in the Philippines. By that time, I think it was in 1997, it was very easy, just a copy of the passport and an address which could even have been the address of the hotel you were staying at, was needed. In the meantime I was informed that an ACR (Alien Certificate of Registration) was mandatory to open an account, which you had to get

Radiation in the Philippines?

2011-03-19T05:44:00.000+01:00

Do we have to fear radiation in the Philippines after the nuclear disaster in Japan? I know of some expats here who already get nervous and thinking about leaving the country and go home to where ever they came from. A few days ago a hoax SMS was spread over the Philippines, telling the people that a nuclear fallout would arrive in the Philippines very soon. Authority quickly responded that this

Back in the Philippines

2010-10-27T12:27:00.004+02:00

It was a looooong journey, our flight back to the Philippines. After all, we were about some 50++ hours without sleep. That's from getting up on wednesday morning German time, flying to Manila in the late evening that day untill our final arrival in Bohol on Friday morning, philippine time. And even there, we had to stay up the whole day untill we could finaly fall asleep on Friday evening.Now

Going back to the Philippines

2010-10-12T12:41:00.004+02:00

It's almost one year, since I wrote my last article here. In the meantime we have been in the Philippines from October 2009 till April 2010 and since then in Germany. Tomorrow is the long awaited day were we fly back to the Philippines. Same as last year, we will use Etihad Airways from Frankfurt to Manila and Philippine Airlines for the connection flight to Tagbilaran. Hope everything will be

Our Flight with Etihad Airways

2009-11-02T07:20:00.004+01:00

Well, last year we were desperately looking for a reasonable cheap flight to the Philippines and decided for Kuwait Airways because it was by miles the cheapest offer.This year however, it seems that many airlines are desperately looking for customers since there are so many cheap offers.Still, all the international flights that would end up in Cebu like Qatar, Malaysian, Cathay Pacific or Asiana

Back to the Philippines

2009-10-31T09:50:00.003+01:00

It has been a longe time since I made my last post here. It's only two weeks now since we came back from our summer residence in Germany. My new website about the Living in the Philippines has been launched and is now working. All important articels abou visa, cost of living etc. are removed from here and placed on my new site. This is only going to be a blog about my personal living in the

Living in the Philippines new website

2009-07-31T21:55:00.003+02:00

I've finaly decided to make my own website about the "Living in the Philippines" with it's own domain: Living-in-the-Philippines.com! I am still working on that one but a few articles are already moved from here to the new site. Therefor, I have also changed some of the links under "Important Article, must read" to their corresponding one at the new site!In the near future, you will find all this

Diving in Bohol Video

2009-03-02T13:56:00.003+01:00

As I said erlier, I finaly managed to get my diving gear ready an over the last weeks we made our first dives here in Loon, Bohol. The reef we have here more or less right in front of our house in merely untouched because nobody else dives here. Dive Boats from well known Alona Beach pass by here every day on their way to Cabilao Island, which they call their Shark Point. That name is because

Tourist For One Day

2009-02-03T13:04:00.013+01:00

Sometimes even Expats play the role of a tourist. Last weekend our doughter came home with two colleagues from the callcenter in Cebu and of course, they wanted to see somethng from Bohol. So we rent a van and went to most of the tourist spots around Bohol, such as: Hinagdanan Cave, Alona Beach, Baclayon Church, Blood Compact, The Python, Loboc River Cruise, Hanging Bridge, Tarsir Monkey,

Diving in the Philippines

2009-01-31T14:22:00.004+01:00

In another life, I used to be a diving instructor. I haven't done much in diving over the past 3 years or so but that's going to be changed soon. Last year I bought me a second hand Bauer Compressor in Germany and sent it by Balik Bayan Box to the Philippines. It arrived in November already but it took me until now, to set up a new frame for it, and just 3 days ago I could finaly run it for the

XMAS In The Philippines

2008-12-21T16:14:00.002+01:00

Christmas in comming up and we are now already 2 month in the Philippines. The readers of my German Homepage always ask me, how we celebrate Christmas in the Philippines. They can not imagine how it would be to celebrate at 30°++ C while it is usually cold in December in Germany. But well, since the Philippines are a mostly catholic country, Christmas is always and everywhere. Houses are

Our Flight With Kuwait Airways

2008-11-05T04:07:00.011+01:00

As I wrote erlier, this year we flew with Kuwait Airways to the Philippines because it was simply the cheapest flight I could book from Germany for only 725,- Euro, 35 Kg free luggage each and valid for 180 days.I must admit, I was a little scared, after reading the reports about the airline in airlinequality.com. Rude staff, bad food, non working personal monitors of the entertainment system and

Ticket prices increase to the Philippines

2008-09-12T13:21:00.007+02:00

Only a few weeks to go, on October 26th we will fly back to the Philippines. When I booked the ticket I noticed that ticket prices from Germany to the Philippines had increased dramatically. All major Airlines like Emirates, Qatar or Cathay Pacific had rised their prices by up to 200,-€! Only Golf Air and Kuwait Airways kept their prices at a normal level. I booked with Kuwait this time, the

Travel Tax Exemption Philippines

2008-05-05T00:00:00.003+02:00

It is an undesirable task to pay the 1670,- Peso of Traveltax for Filipinos, every time they leave their country, no matter if for a short holiday or for going home to their second home country abroad when they are married with a foreigner.The Traveltax was originally thought to have a budget available for Filipino Oversea Workers, to bring them back home in case of an emergency or what ever. Few

Cebu Pacific flies Boracay direct

2008-03-09T17:35:00.005+01:00

Since February 29th, Low Cost Carrier Cebu Pacific now flies from Manila to Boracay (Caticlan) directly. Flights from Cebu to Boracay will start on March 28th. If you have a look on their Website, you will find the flights from Manila or Cebu from 688,- Peso one way plus surcharges of course.Cebu Pacific services the new route with their brand new ATR 72 Turboprop Aircraft, which can handle

Dance Show in Bohol

2008-03-03T14:29:00.003+01:00

There was another dance Show in Loon in front of the old church yesterday morning. I guess that part was left from the week before where they made a street parade but then it startet raining. Even yesterday, they just finished the show and about an hour later the rain came again.The show however, was nice to look at. There were severall groups and in one group, all the girls were wearing sexy

Street Parade and Sinulog in Loon, Bohol

2008-02-17T16:01:00.001+01:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } parade-loon-bohol-philippinen-2008-054, ursprünglich hochgeladen von gerd-winterfeld.de This morning was another nice street parade in Loon, Bohol and in the afternoon a small Sinulog (Streetdance) from a neigbouring

House for Rent Bohol

2008-02-03T08:11:00.001+01:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Are you looking for a house for rent in Bohol, Philippines? I wrote it already in another article here, that the internet is probably the wrong place to find one. I promised to some friends, that I will go and look around

Good Bye 2007

2007-12-31T06:40:00.000+01:00

The old year 2007 says good bye with a beautiful sunny day here in the Philippines and a flat tire on my motor bike, the first one in 3 years. That's quite amazing, in Thailand I used to have a flat tire almost once every week.In the neighbourhood they killed 3 big pigs this morning to make sure everybody has enough to eat tonight and on the road to Loon people preparing for tonight's party by

The Dancing Filipino

2007-12-26T06:11:00.000+01:00

This is also the Philippines: I went to the Christmas Party in the Barangay Hall on December 23rd were they had a little program running, with girls dancing, some live music and speeches.The Party was actually inside the barangay hall but this guy, who happens to be our carpenter, had his own show outside and probably more spectators:

Christmas In The Philippines

2007-12-22T12:38:00.000+01:00

This is also something you have to learn, when you want live in the Philippines: From about December 16th till January 6th you will have the Caroling or Christmas Singers at your house. That's always funny and nice to look at but when it comes to the last days it can be a little nerving. The other night we had 5 Teams, all children and they came along just after the other team had left. So you

Real Estate In The Philippines

2007-12-22T01:32:00.006+01:00

Look at my new website: Real Estate in the Philippines

Finding A House For Rent In The Philippines

2007-12-20T09:17:00.003+01:00

Look at my new website: Finding a house for rent inthe Philippines

Visa Extension In The Philippines

2007-12-19T08:01:00.012+01:00

For foreigners it is possible to stay up to 16 month in Philippines without a visa. All you have to do is to show up at the nearest immigration office every 2 month and extent your visa stamp and pay the fee, of course. The extension fees add up to 21,110 Peso for one year. For an exact listing of the cost and more information, please visit my new website on this topic here: Visa extension in the

Cost Of Living in the Philippines

2007-12-18T11:58:00.006+01:00

The Philippines is known as a country where you can stay and live, even on a low budget. The cheapest places of course you will find in the provinces, a little bit away from the big cities and from pupular tourist places. There, you can rent small houses for less than 100 U$ a month and buy your daily needs and food at the local markets. The longer you stay in the Philippines and the more you get

Birds Steal The Bananas

2007-12-17T06:48:00.000+01:00

When I took this picture yesterday, the show was almost over: About 15 of this black birds with red eye were sitting in the banana tree, stealing the bananas. Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera ready only three of them were left. Maybe anybody out there can tell me what bird this is? I guess it belongs to the family of Beos and they can even speak but sure.

Bathroom Nightmare

2007-12-15T05:54:00.000+01:00

Well, our carpenter is getting a little slow over the last few days, as he ist putting the new tiles on the wall. He is working three days now on that and only 3 out of 6 walls are finished up to the border. I wonder if we can use the new bathroom by Xmas or the end of next week.I have given up on the sleepingroom before Christmas, that will take another week or two in January. Two plywood walls

2007-12-09T15:23:00.000+01:00

I have just uploaded my first video to youtube to promote my other website about Living in Thailand. Here we go:

Still Under Construction

2007-12-07T13:59:00.000+01:00

It's been a little quiet here lately as nothing really new happens. Our carpenter is still busy breaking parts of the house, rather then finishing it. Hopefully the he will finish our bathroom and sleeping room before X-Mas.The weather here in the Visaya Islands is still wet, with some rain shower every day. Got soaking wet yesterday on the motor bike when I came back from town where I bought new

Spider in the Philippines

2007-12-01T06:35:00.000+01:00

We have a new visitor at our house, a spider. I thought I take some pictures and when I looked at them, I saw that he was just having lunch:

Alturas Drum & Bugle Corps Showdown 2007

2007-11-25T03:01:00.000+01:00

The taifun still don't know where to go, at least it did not come to Bohol yesterday, so I went eraly morning to Tagbilaran City to watch the parade of the 2007 Bohol Drum and Bugles Contest. About 18 teams, mostly set up by the different schools around the island lined up for the parade, that ended with a "Show Down" at the Tagbilaran Stadium.

Taifun "Mitag" reaches Philippines

2007-11-23T11:53:00.000+01:00

There are two Taifuns at once near the Philippines. One on the east and another one on the west. While the western one is moving towards Cambodia and Thailand, the other one with name "Mitag" is circeling just outsinde the Philippines and seems not to move at all. Philippine authorities however have evacuateted hundreds of thousands of people on the eastern coast and under the Mt. Mayon Vulcano

Rain in the Philippines

2007-11-18T10:42:00.000+01:00

It's raining here for days now guys and if I look on the satelite picture it seems it is not getting any better in the coming days. Clouds all over South East Asia, I realy hope there is now Taifun born again. Today we already ate our last food, so tomorrow is defenitly the day where we have to go in town to buy some food, if it is raining or not.A friend told me about a car for sale the other

Ants in the Computer

2007-11-18T10:28:00.000+01:00

It came without any warning. A short message in the taskkbar of thekind: can't save file MSF...blabla...possible hardware error. Oh God! First I thought about a hacker attack on my computer, but had a look inside anyway and whow..., one of the hard disks was full of ants. Off the computer, cleaning everything but no success. The hard disk is gone and with her about 60 Gigs on data. Luckily I have

Back in the Philippines

2007-11-09T14:13:00.000+01:00

Now we are here for two weeks already and I have not written anything here. Thats mostly because I had to take care about my German website first but also because there was a ot of stuff to do here and the philippine DSL is not working proper either. So here is an rough overview over the last two weeks.Anyway, we landed safely in Cebu after a long flight, stayed for two nights at the Kiwi Lodge

The Car Is Sold

2007-10-18T23:15:00.000+02:00

Today I went to town, to sell my car to one of this street dealers who will probably again resell it to some Eastern Europe country or as a Winter Car to some lucky German guy. I don't care, I bought it for 500,-€, invested 180,-€ for a new muffler and sold it for 300,-€, so I drove my car for 380,-€ for 6 month, that's fair enough. I would have got some more money if I sold it private but this

Countdown

2007-10-13T23:54:00.001+02:00

Only 10 days and counting...Now our flight to the Philippines is only 10 days away. Germany is getting colder now so it's really time to go. We will stay for one or two nights in Cebu at Kiwi Lodge Hotel before we take the final step by boat to Bohol Island. Looking forward for the fight with the taxi drivers and the guys of Ocean Jet who always want a surcharge for additional Kilos in our

Our Flight to the Philippines

2007-09-28T23:32:00.000+02:00

Yesterday our ticket to the Philippines arrived. The flight will be on October 24 with Qatar Airways from Frankfurt via Doha to Cebu in the Philippines. The only problem ist the 5 hours stop over in Doha in between a 6 hours and 9 hours flight. What to to there for 5 hours on the airport? Qatar Airways will provide a hotel room only when the stop over ist over 8 hours, so bad luck for us. Anyway,

Ticket to the Philippines

2007-08-28T22:55:00.000+02:00

Back to the Philippines. While working hard here in Germany, last week I ordered the ticket to return to the Philippines on October 24th. So the adventure starts again. Only 8 weeks to go, stay tuned!

In Germany

2007-08-05T21:13:00.000+02:00

I am back home in Germany right now. And that's for 3 month already which means there is another 3 month to go. We plan our return to the Philippines for end of October. A look it the pricelists of travel offices show, that we will have to pay about 720 € for the 6 month return ticket with Qatar Airways. Flight should be from Frankfurt via Doha directly to Cebu. That's Balik Bayan special price

The Stoned Grandpa

2007-04-11T05:02:00.000+02:00

There is an old man living near our house an when ever I go out with my bike or motorbike I have to pass him. For a few years now already, he lies all day long in his small hut, only gets up for food and maybe making a pee on the next coconut tree. In the evening he will go in the house for sleep.At some time last year, he started to feel sick. He felt dizzy, had pain all over the body and maybe

Cave Expedition in the Philippines II

2007-04-03T19:41:00.000+02:00

It was only about 500 Metres from our house, where we had to stop the motorbike and then walk a little uphill to find the cave. I don't know why my Filipino guide was worried about me not fitting through the entrance. I am not that big! The cave itself was a little smaller than expected, a couple of teens came out when we entered the cave, maybe they went for a swimm. There was indeed a small

Cave Expedition

2007-04-02T18:27:00.000+02:00

Time is running out slowly. Only three weeks to go, before we have to go back to Germany for some work for 6 month. I will try to enjoy the remaining days here with swimming, diving and relaxing of course. Tomorrow morning I will go swimming and play some table tennis with my German Neighbour and in the afternoon I will try to explore some cave right here in the neighbourhood. Must be something

Tatay and the Knights of Columbus

2007-03-27T18:10:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I got scared! I was about to laminate some of Tatays ID and Membership ID Cards, when I found one that had a header: Knights Of Columbus! What was that? Something like Scientology and Tatay was maybe one of their leaders, a Guru? In the evening, I almost forgot about it, came even another member of that club to our house to get some membership fees from Tatay. Now I had to have a look

Funny Discount Rates

2007-03-23T16:22:00.000+01:00

I just came back to Bohol this afternoon from a 3 day vacation in Cebu. Used the Weesam Express, back and forth for 500,- Peso. It's funny, all those fast ferry companies put their prices up to a level where actually nobody would buy a ticket anymore, then they sell them on promo with a 50% discount like free return trip or so. Weesam was 500,- for return ticket, Super Cat sold their One Way

Trip to Calapi and Tubigon, where ist Talibon?

2007-03-19T15:54:00.000+01:00

Made a very extensive Tour by motor bike today. Was going first to visit another German in Calape who I met last year on Cabilao Island. Luckily I found the house quick and we had some interesting talk and some nice spring roll from his wife (thanks once again). Afterwarts I wanted to go to Tubigon to find a supposed to be shopping mall but Timo, the Germany guy told me that this would be in

Sailing Boat Put On Ice

2007-03-17T11:20:00.000+01:00

After I found out the price for building a new local Sailing Boat (from 150,- US$up), I put my plans on repairing the two old ones on ice. I would like to have one build right away but the Boat Builder here in the neigbourhood is busy with two boats already and it will take another month or so to finish. My time here however, is over in about 5 weeks already. So I will have that done when I come

A Sailing Boat in the Philippines

2007-03-12T12:38:00.000+01:00

A few day ago a met a German neigbour here and he we were talking about what we do all day long. He told me that he owns a small sailing boat and goes out with it almost every day. In came out however, that the sailing boat is a local out trigger boat a "Banka" and he just put a mast and a sail on it. Since I was also always thinking of having a small boat that brought me to some wild idea. So

Party Time in The Philippines

2007-03-10T16:07:00.000+01:00

The last few days, we were all busy here by preparing a huge party due to the 9th death aniversary of my wifes late sister. For some reason this is a reason to celebrate a big fiesta here in the Philippines. A 87 kg pig was killed & cooked, about 50 kg rice, 10 Li Mungo Soup and another 10 kg of noodles were eaten by about 100 to 150 visitors, all from the neigbourgood. Amazing! The first eaters

Cave Diving: The Sra Keow Cave In Thailand

2007-03-05T14:31:00.000+01:00

Now, this has nothing really to do with my living in the Philippines but...The Asian Cave Diving Club finaly managed to make an incredibly deep dive down to 240 Metres to find the bottom of the Sra Keow Cave near the village of Ban Naisa in Krabi, Thailand. This makes it the deepest flooded cave system in South East Asia so far.I dived this cave already in 1995 with a friend of mine and we made

Lunar Eclipse

2007-03-03T02:43:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow morning at about 6:00 am we will have a total lunar eclipse here in the Philippines. Unfortunately we won't see much I guess, because at 6:00 am is daylight already. Picture taken by me on a Philippine Fullmoon Night.

The Big Whuumm!

2007-03-02T13:57:00.000+01:00

Today was more or less a very regular day. The women were busy cleaning the house from the super fine cement dust which the carpenters left over and I was working on a new internet project, when suddenly a big Whuumm came up. My first thought was about the gas tank in the new welding shop at the main road and I run out to look for the smoke from a big fire. In came up however, that it was only a

They Made It!

2007-02-28T16:38:00.000+01:00

Our carpenters finished today. Thanks god! Wife was busy this afternoon cleaning the house and will get a helper for the rest tomorrow. Now, our house here finaly has a proper ceiling, the open back-wall in the kitchen is closed untill a door opening and some other holes in the house are also sealed with cement. Now everything needs to be repainted. I wonder when that will be...Tomorrow I will

2007-02-27T16:04:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, in the German version of my blog here, I posted an article about the funny toilet bowls here in the Philippines but had the impression that the picture didn't fit with the one from the nice filipina girls in the parde below. So I will save you from that and post it later. Instead, I will provide you with another nice picture from the parade last sunday. Again, you can view all the

Philippine DSL is a disaster

2007-02-26T14:58:00.000+01:00

Now for a few days already, the DSL service here is a complete disaster. Was there another erathquake that destroyed the undersea cables again? I haven't heard about.I can not call any page hosted in Germany, Yahoo or Google is working at least sometimes. I hate this cut offs without prior notice. You easily spend hours in front of the computer waiting for something happen but not. Thank You

Filipinas On A Parade

2007-02-25T17:32:00.000+01:00

This morning I had to go to the Loon to buy some bread for breakfast and run into a parade, organized I guess by the school to celebrate the finals before the semester break. Lot's of beautyfull filipina girls in short skirts dancing in the streets. You can have a look at all pictures at the gallery of my German page here!

Scuba Diving at Alona Beach, Bohol!

2007-02-24T15:16:00.000+01:00

Yes, we made it. Had to dalay our departure here at the house this morning, because it started raining. Even on the way to Panglao Island we got cought in a small shower, but finaly we made it. Unfortunately the weather didn't like us today. Some heavy rainshowers forced us to stay somewhere inside a restaurant if we didn't want to get wet. However, we finaly managed to make our scheduled dive

Trip to Alona Beach tomorrow!

2007-02-23T17:54:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow, my lazy life with doing (almost) nothing will be interupted. One of my former dive students arrived today and we are going to make a dive together at Alona Beach on Panglao Island. Hope the weather will be fine, it's a 50 km trip by motor bike for me. The special event on this one is, that he also carries two under water scooter with him and we will hopefully have a rinde on them. I am

The Dust Is Gone!

2007-02-23T01:03:00.000+01:00

It was a dusty day. Our carpenters had to finish some floor girder with cement and I decided to have some cable to hide in the wall and also install some more utility boxes in the kitchen. So some slits had to be made in the concrete walls. Yes, concrete! In the Philippines, walls are cleaned with cement instead of some softer material, which makes them very hard. To speed up the process, I throw

No Bricks in The Philippines???

2007-02-20T14:09:00.000+01:00

Our carpenters got busy today again, closing the open part of the back wall in the kitchen and then they had to close a gap between the wall and the roof in the old kitchen in the back. On one side we could use whole hollow block but the gap got smaller and smaller and we had to break all the new hollowblocks to cover the hole. Asking the carpenters and some neighbours I found out that there are

Prices for Constructions in the Philippiens

2007-02-19T18:53:00.000+01:00

When ever I find out how I can make a static page with this blogger software, I will make a seperate page about the prices for construction material in the Philippines. This morning we went to order some hollow blocks (10,-P each), sand 700,-P/m³) and cement (208,- per Sack) to close some remaining "holes" in the house here. Also the kitchen will have it's open back wall closed and a door will be

The ceiling and the walls

2007-02-18T18:45:00.000+01:00

Well, the ceiling here in the lower floor is as good as finished, except for the painting. This comming week we have to buy some cement and hollow blocks and do some other construction inside the house. First week of March however, it looks like the whole big family of my wife will show up here in Bohol, to celebrate the 10th death aniversary of my wifes sister. That seem so become a huge party.

9 Weeks To Go

2007-02-18T18:40:00.000+01:00

Yust made a quick calculation, only 9 weks to go and I will have to go back to Germany. Phuuu... I don't realy want to think about it. Looking for a cheap car the first week, looking for work and then the typicial German lifes goes on. Wake up early morning, work, eat, news and sleep. That's maybe until October when we have to come back here in the Philippines.

Coconuts

2007-02-17T02:58:00.000+01:00

Every two month or so, it's time to harvest some of the coconuts in the forest behind our house. The Land there belongs to the family so that's a nice side income for them. You got to hire a man who will climb the trees like a monkey and he get's 7,- Peso for every tree he climbs. Then the green coconuts will be split into peaces and the white flesh insinde has to dry in the sun. After a few days

Bananas

2007-02-15T10:43:00.000+01:00

Today was the first time our carpenters didn't show up, so the ceiling has another break.From time to time a neigbour comes in, telling us that one of our banana trees in the forest behind the house is ready to harvest. So today, we harvest bananas. Too many for us alone so the neigbour will get some as well. This bananas are not actually for eating directly, but will be fried in oil or cooked.

Kisses Forbidden On Valentines Day!

2007-02-14T12:35:00.000+01:00

Today is Valentine's Day and due to this, Thai and Philippine Lawmakers made a very special approach to attract youths for the next election: Police was set on a higher alert, to prevent youths (below 18) from kissing in public places on Valentines Day! At the same time, owners of "Short Time Hotels" and similar establishments have been advised not to let any people below 18 in, to prevent "

Throwing Stones

2007-02-13T17:03:00.000+01:00

Now last night somebody thought he had to throw some stones at our house here. Nothing to see outside. It was a dark black night. Just a few dogs in the neigbourhood were barking.This morning however, my wife had something to tell. First our two carpenters, then the neigbours and finaly the Barangai Kaptain. This afternoon then, she could tell me that even people who live as far as 1 km away

German Tourist Dropped His Pants

2007-02-12T13:35:00.000+01:00

Now, you don't wanna miss this one: A 66 year old German Tourist dropped his pants at the security check at Manila Intl. Airport. Obviously he was embarassed when he had to go a second time through the X-Ray Machine. Airport police arrested him and, with a little bad luck, he might go in jail for a period of 6 month or so.Security at Manila Airport is very strict. If you don't have a ticket, you

Bohol Idol...Singing Contest "Love Duet"

2007-02-11T14:13:00.000+01:00

Sunday today, so no news about our ceiling. Therefore I went to Tagbilaran City to watch the Finals in a local Singing Contest called "Love Duet" at BQ Mall. And hey, those boys and girls were really good! First price, if I got that right, was a Dinner for Two at Pizza Hut.If I watch the TV here about what they deliver for the ""Americian Idol" huhhhh.... They should come to the Philippines with

Operation Ceiling II

2007-02-10T13:22:00.000+01:00

Ready for the weekend! Well, almost. My two carpenters finished the ceiling in the kitchen but gave up on the epoxy stuff which was used to close the gaps between the plates and the nails. Maybe they were just too slow but the stuff hardened while there were still working on it. At least they didn't mess up the living room, that will be on Monday.

Operation "Ceiling"

2007-02-08T15:08:00.000+01:00

Now, our house here in Loon should finaly get a proper ceiling in the groundfloor. So far we lived with the lower side of the upper floor's floor. Well in time, at 8:00 am, the two carpenters arrived and started imediately to set up a stand for themself to be able to work under the ceiling. Then I was looking forward to see how they would (in the same time) hold and nail the heavy and big "

Anybody Knows This Bird?

2007-02-05T16:56:00.000+01:00

Have this bird sitting almost every morning on the wire near our house and makes funny sounds: Uuuiiihhh..... . Just curious and would like to know the name of it.Today nothing serious happened. Went to town to pay some bills and got wet. For about a week now it's cloudy and windy but no rain, until today...

The Clever Pinoys

2007-02-04T13:23:00.000+01:00

On January 24th, 2007 I wrote here, that the State Of Calamity was called out here in Loon, due to the outbreak of a diarrhea epedemie. However, I did't think about the results of this: When a region is put under the state of calamity, every effected citizen can claim 3000,- Peso (60 US$) from the government. That lead several people here to "sign up" in the hospital for diarrhea, even if the

Trip to Cabilao

2007-02-02T18:03:00.000+01:00

As a mentioned in my posting below, we made a short trip to Cabilao Island to visit some friends at La Estrella Resort. I took some pictures to refill the gallery on my German Page, you can find them here! The picture above however, is not from La Estrella Resort, it is the swimmingpool in the neigbouring Polaris Beach Resort. I thought it looks quiet nice.At Estrella Resort they have a brand new

Philippino Water System

2007-01-31T17:52:00.000+01:00

The public Watersystem is most likely the cause of the diarrhea outbreak in Loon province in the Philippines. Today I shot some nice pictures of the suspected water pipe on a trip to Cabilao Island, which is part of Loon. Waterpipes here are installed mostly on the suface beside the road and have poorly repaired leaks every 10 to 20 metres or so. Part of the pipe I took the photo of, run just

Shigella dysenteriae or Shigella flexneri - The Diarrhea Epedemie in Loon

2007-01-30T14:48:00.000+01:00

Now the child has finaly a name: Shigella dysenteriae or Shigella flexneri, so it was anounced today by some philippino newsapapers, caused the diarrhea problem in Loon, on Bohol Island in the Philippines, the place where I stay.While the local newspaper talking about the second version which is less dangerous, the people's reports sound more like the first, more dangerous version with blood in

New Rip Off On Philippino Domestic Helpers

2007-01-29T14:23:00.000+01:00

Philippino Domestic Helpers in Hongkong went on strike today agaist a new law in the Philippines that forces them to visit a seminar that will certify them as "Domestic Helper". Without this certificate they would not be able no leave the country. The certificate will cost them between 5000,- and 15,000,- Peso. This is just another rip off from the government against this domestic helpers who

Update on Loon's Diarrhea Problem

2007-01-27T19:56:00.000+01:00

Today I got the latest rumors from my wife:So far about 130 people are sick and 5 people had died so far on the desease. From Loon itself, they bring the "more complicatet cases" to the hospital in Tagbilaran, others are kept here.Until now the Epedemia was isolated to two villages on the other sinde of Loon but now already some people in the negbourhood got sick. Not sure if they really suffer

Our Cats

2007-01-26T09:34:00.000+01:00

There is not much happen today, I just had to repair a leaking waterpipe in the house and it's going to be weekend very soon. In the meantime I'll take the opportunity to introduce our two philipino cat with German names: There ist the squinting "Teufel" (Devil) and Tiger, the one with the (look like) cut off tale. Cats are born here with a tale that looks like it's cut off. I know that

No Panic!

2007-01-25T19:32:00.000+01:00

So, today I finaly made it to go to Loon and have a look what was going on about this diarrhea problem. Nothing! Loon is as quiet as always. Even at the small clinic in loon and at the emergeny hospital which is located about 2 km outside the center had not any more people as always. I am wondering where the TV shot this pictures with hundreds of people waiting in front of a clinic.Anyway, since

Loon called state of calamity due to diarrhea outbreak

2007-01-24T18:37:00.000+01:00

Thats it! Today it run over the news ticker in Philippine TV that Loon called the out the state of calamity, due to the outbreak of a diarrhea epedemie in two villages on the other side of Loon. Loon is only about 3 km from my place here and people are advised to boil the tap water before drinking it. We get our drinking water usually from a watershop in Loon but most other people here drink the

Diarrhea Alarm in Loon, Bohol and a natural recipe

2007-01-22T15:51:00.000+01:00

It just came over the news in TV: There is a epedemia of diarrhea in Loon, Bohol. That's our place here! Obviously there is a problem with the water supply from the public pipe. Two small kids are alredy dead and the small hospital here already run out of medicine.This reminds me of a old natural recipe that helps for sure in such cases:Take about 30 Papaya Seeds and put them together with a

Treasure Map for the Diver's Inn in Ao Nang, Thailand

2007-01-21T13:53:00.000+01:00

Internet ist still incredibly slow here, specially if you want to call up any site hosted in Europe. Because of that I spent another day working offline and played a little with a website I have to make for the Diver's Inn Restaurant in Krabi, Thailand. They wanted a map on their website that looks like a "treasure map". Well I tried a little, you can see the result above. To see the final

The Erazor, He did it!

2007-01-19T17:21:00.000+01:00

This guy is great. He destroyed the old shed, sorted the material and cleaned the area in only two days. We will sure employ him for some more construction stuff arround the house.

Black Holes

2007-01-18T16:10:00.000+01:00

Most houses in the province in the Philippines are like black holes or dark caves. Houses are build with hollowblocks and the walls are cleaned up with cement and usually never get painted. The result, when you enter enter a house it's like you enter a dark cave, even at bright daylight. Also our house here used to be a dark cave until I painted the walls white and removed some sort of

PayPal in the Philippines

2007-01-16T20:29:00.000+01:00

Just came across a post in another blog here, pointing out that PayPal is now available in the Philippines. Still only with limited service but...Now Pinoys, you will have to improve your banking system. Make it possible to transfer money from one bank to another and reduce the amount of people who have to wait for hours to make a simple transfer or whats ever. Then, maybe, you will be able

DLS Problems in the Philippines

2007-01-16T19:36:00.000+01:00

When the last earthquak happened on December 26th, 2006 in Taiwan, it destroyed three important undersea internet cables that are resposible for the internet services all over Asia. I was in Thailand by that time and on the same evening most internet cafes were closed, because you could't even call one simple site. By that time it was anonuced that it would take up to 3 weeks to repair the damage

Welcome to "Living in the Philippines"

2007-01-15T19:48:00.000+01:00

So this is going to be the English version of my blog about the daily joy & trouble fo a foreigner living in the Philippines. If you are German, you may want to visit the "original" page of this here! Stay tuned in for the latest and funniest stories from a tropcial "Paradise". Right now it's time to sleep for me, almost 3:00 am, so I will start writing maybe tomorrow, if my DSL connection is

sitemap

2007-01-01T09:01:00.000+01:00

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