It’s been over eight years since I first published a photo of the old “Compound Crew” back in my first blog, “The Rooster Crows at 4 am!” There’s been a mountain of changes since that first picture was published. (more…)
We've recently hired a new domestic helper for our household in Guimaras. The crusty old expat, yours truly, issued an "executive order" which proclaimed a new part-time helper was needed to augment our current staff. My “executive order” was not held up in any federal court. (more…)
The cancellation of the visit from our island province's resident computer god saved me a few pesos. Panoy, is known throughout the land of sweet mangoes, Guimaras, for his computer savvy. The tech wizard could have solved my problem with Globe quicker than a young boy can wipe snot off his nose with a shirtsleeve. (more…)
"Citronella Plants Protect Our Home in the Philippines from Mosquitoes" is today's topic. The Philippines Department of Health has reported a 41% increase in cases of dengue fever in the country from 01 January 2016 to 11 June 2016 compared with the same period in 2015. (more…)
Our Filipino workers have left the building after almost two years. Brother-in-law Joery led a crew that built a nipa hut on our property in November 2014. In January 2015 Contractor Boy began work on our new home in the Philippines with a 22-man crew. We moved in the first of July 2015. (more…)
Our workers recently completed a new terrace project at our home in the Philippines. My asawa had wanted the terrace, nearest the nipa hut my father-in-law lives in, to have a roof. She plans to have an array of plants and flowers underneath the new polycarbonate sheet roof we had delivered a few weeks ago. (more…)
Living a simple life in the Philippines is not that difficult, especially if you reside in a rural province like my asawa and I retired to over six years ago. My wife grew up in a nipa hut with a dirt floor. The house didn't not have any modern luxuries such as electricity and running water. Here's a look at the region of Guimaras, our island province home known for the sweetest mangoes in the world, which my spouse shared with eight brothers and sisters and her two parents, along with pythons and an assortment of lizards.
My asawa's simple life included encounters with invisible elves called duwendes and evil, shape-shifting flying demons, aswangs. It made life interesting.
Now my spouse of almost 16 years and I live on a 13,500 square meter property, with beautiful blue skies and
Our water conservation project in the Philippines will recycle rainwater from our dirty kitchen roof along with one side of the roof from our new home. We've added a 2,000 liter stainless tank along with our former 1,000 liter tank in an effort to reduce the effects of the ongoing El Niño currently slamming the Philippines. (more…)
After the publication of my latest post, "Living in the Philippines 6 Yr. Review," one of my faithful readers asked me the following questions and wondered, knowing what I know now, what would I have done or not done:
Would you still have moved to the Philippines or would you have stayed in the USA?
What would you have done the same the last six years living in the Philippines?
What would you have done differently the last six years living in the Philippines?
(more…)
Cebu City: The Queen City of the South. My lovely asawa and I recently returned from a short vacation to do some shopping and to relax in the famed "Second City" of the Philippines, the oldest city in the archipelago. While I haven't done anything to earn a sabbatical, my spouse has. My wife has been dealing with the construction of our new home in the Philippines for almost six months now, and needed a break, even though she would never admit to that. (more…)
How much will it cost to build your retirement home in the Philippines? In this post I will address how much it might cost for you to build your own residence on this archipelago of 7,107 islands. But keep in mind there is absolutely no way I can predict how much it might personally cost future expats to build a new home in the PH, this post is merely drawn upon my own personal experiences and online research. (more…)
