Related to what John Surrey commented on regarding "Foreigners, (mostly in Bars)".....most of us haven't spent that long over there, @HONEST DAVE, maybe Alan Salter will find these things out if he does move over there. He seems to be interested in other things (away from bar life) so that will strengthen his new relationship if and when he gets there. Most of us members live in the UK and don't have the Filipino bar-life experiences that you have. Bars - of course a lot of British men also spend a lot of time in the pubs in the UK - this is nothing new. Some marriages and relationships don't last in the UK because of this problem. Being together a lot can often help any relationship and being apart can break a relationship as can make a person feel lonely. The other side of the coin is that some relationships survive because of the separation, some couples argue all the time if they are together too much.
In my wasted hours spending time in Bars in PH I learned so many things and it was much like going to a Library for me, there I met so many interesting people, one such example being Larry Elterman, he had written a book titled; A mans Guide to Live and find Love in the Philippines, this I had read long before meeting Larry, he was a great guy sadly he died quite young, he had written on a few Ex-pat forums and among other things was quite an expert on Suzuki Multicabs, he was one of many interesting Foreigners that I have spent time with (in Bars) that had been in PH for the long term, I must admit to having some bad nights, often you would meet the Foreigner crying in his Beer over his failed relationship, this being a commonplace story I had heard many times added to that I have had a couple of shorter term failed relationships myself, For the most part I did try to befriend persons of interest and not Pissheads (although I may be one myself?) I think it fair to say I have quite a colour Palette of experiences and can paint a vivid mostly accurate and realistic picture of Life In the Philippines. Admittedly my partner had some concerns over my drinking habits and she used to say to me why do you have the need to drink too much, my reply to this was; I do not drink too much just enough and this helps me to forget all the bad things that have happened in my life, she would then ask what were my bad experiences, I then I had to tell her I can't remember and this is proof that the drink is working. My partner was certainly not a Bar Widow, her and our son was just 100mtrs along the road from my local at the Tennis club.
i did think that--possibly on of the three that caused all the problems and were shown the door. One lives over there doesnt he ? Probably brag about his exploits on Roses.
I'm forced to be brutally honest here and say a relationship with a Filipino is unlikely to produce much stimulating conversation within the partnership, in my experience most Pinays are educated to a standard of little more than a 10yr old in the 1st world, however in fairness they do tend to be more sensible than their male counterparts, I myself had a couple of relationships one for 9 months and the other 4 we were right out in the back woods where there was very few other foreigners, both of these women had their own properties, never married no children and past child bearing age, one of which was on the beach and the other was a farm there we were breeding Boer Goats a fine majestic animal, this particular woman had been a professional singer and made a lot of money working in Japan over a period of 25yrs, she even had a small Karaoke Bar in the town, however in the 9 months I lived there I only ever met one other Foreigner for a brief period, this was not for me, something was missing? perhaps I did not even know this at the time? but I needed to communicate with other Foreigners, I was getting prepared to move back to UK and give up living there, eventually I moved to Mactan/Cebu on my own, I was intending to move back to UK at this time and just thinking of this as a somewhat extended holiday before my return, however I was meeting other reprobate depraved Foreigners like minded to myself spending much of my time in Bars (many other clean living up their own arse Foreigners see us in that light) there are Bars which are geared to attract a certain type of undesirable Foreigner these have pretty young barmaids and provide extra beneficial services, I did not frequent this type of Bar and I found places where there was Foreigners like minded to myself who just wanted some social contact with a little stimulating conversation thrown into the mix. Our John Salter, real name Alan, may find it to be a lonely life living in a rural district in PH if that describes his intended destination? when I first had the call to go there, I was thinking this really was paradise, only to later discover it was not for me?
My association fees (dues) are 150 peso a month, when we lived in the condo back in 2005 I was paying rent of 10,000 a month for about 27 sqm and association dues of about 1100, from 2008 our rent has been 9000 a month and then 10000 a month today but the association dues were always 150 peso a month. It is actually quite a secure little subdivision this is in Las Pinas. We are this corner house huge living area downstairs and and upstairs terrace area plus 2 bedrooms the post where the guy is standing is next door. This picture was taken in 2019, Nanay planted the bushes down the edge of the house a long time ago and now everyone comes to us to pick the leaves for Tinola
I looked at a couple of places back before Christmas, terrible value for money very small, thin walls you were going to hear everything about your neighbours, I wasn't that keen on the subdivisions as they were characterless at least our present place has some character it's not just the same terraced design over and over and over. Current interest rate being quoted was 10% per annum that was in house financing. In house financing is basically a con, it's give them a monthly peso amount for 5 years that they think you can afford and at the end of that you have to get a bank loan (mortgage) for the balance, the builders get your down-payment at the start and maybe 20% of the balance paid over 5 years which probably covers their entire costs in construction and land + 50% to 100% profit and then you still have to pay the 80% remaining balance or the property will revert to them and they can sell it again. I would much rather build but I don't know where to start. I would also say that I didn't have any confidence in the quality of construction of the places I looked at and they weren't finished properly either there were faults in the showhomes.
Sorry to hear of Larry death, when did he pass away and as you say quite young what age was he when he passed?
I do not know much about the circumstances of Larry's death he had been dead for quite some time before I found out and this was around 18months ago, I never did know his age, but would suggest he was at most a little over 60yrs?
Wow! that is amazing value at the price you are paying and almost sounds too good to be true, not that I doubt you for one moment. You say you do not know where to start to Build your own house, in that case don't, turning to an Ex-Pat forum to get advice on the subject will get you a fair amount of bad information, 99.9% of houses are done in CHB, this method is quite a failure in my opinion for a multitude of reasons. There is another method which has much the same end result (needs powerful AC units to cool it down) but this is 10 times stronger and able to withstand Quakes, this is the CIP method, cast in place concrete, if you care to Google; Texas Filipino house build (James Hightower) there you can see the method, in his videos he is building a large Texan style house on three floors right on the beach, close to Iloilo on Panay island. However the method does require a high degree of accuracy and forward planning and 100% dedicated supervision, no Pinoy builder could manage such a project.
I'm confused now When did the op (Alan Salter ???) change from being Alan Salter to John Salter? Did I miss something?
The problem with the bar here is that once it is know to attract foreigners the pretty young filipinas follow. Beer goggles on... pretty filipinas within touching distance... trouble with wife...
I would suggest you have this in the reverse? there are Bars that are known to Foreigners where there is a favourable chance to pick up Ladies with benefits, these have been long established, there will be sign in this Bar which has the price of ladies Drinks and usually the action starts there in the late evening. The Bars I did frequent, attracted a different type of Foreigner they were certainly not girly bars, most of which were closed by 9pm.
I remember Larry, he passed away some time ago can't remember the exact year he passed but it must be over 3 years ago. He was the owner of Dumaguete info forum for a while.
This was me paying the landlord's agent who lives in Phase II of the subdivision back in December while I was there, I pay 10001 as a marker to make it clear that it's me, I used to have to pay 10075 when Metrobank charged remittance fees for my transfer method but now I use Wise (TransferWise) and he doesn't get charged anymore The owner lives in the US as far as I know and might be a relative of Renan, Renan is a police officer and a decent enough proxy landlord last time I saw him was back in May last year, the house is in Ana's name not mine but Renan knows full well that she's got no money and that it's really me behind it and I've never missed a payment in nearly 15 years. It was about 5 or 6 years back that they raised the rent to from 9000 to 10000. I would never buy this place even if offered it as it needs a huge amount of work done, having lived there for 15 years (me back and forth most of my time in the UK) I've seen the decay and yes it's expensive to cool but I really like it there I've never had any trouble and the neighbors are nice at least nice to me It is in a flood area, the worst was typhoon Ondoy sp? it's in a tidal surge area and has a creek running round the back, when the dams overflowed back then at the same time as a tidal surge and high winds we were 18 inches under water. Oh and in December the kids hadn't paid the dues for about 5 months so I got a bill of 750 peso only found out when we were giving the guards and everyone else their wee Christmas Bonus from us edit: ah found a receipt
is this the same guy --? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiX5HlNNNe2sKuIUGUv-bjA looks very alive and well a few months ago
I knew Larry from Duma about 10,12 years ago. Expert mechanic that could work on just about any car engine you could name. He gave me some very good advice prior to me purchasing my first vehicle here. He also was an expert regarding local Filipinos attaining U.S Visas. I think he ran some kind of US Visa consultancy or something to that effect but sadly died around 4 or 5 years ago. A good man. RIP Larry.
