Christmas season is the time that many Filipinos, living in the Philippines or abroad, going home to their ‘family’ home towns. Often accompanied by their foreigner partners. And for many of those foreigners is will be the first time to visit the Philippines and to experience the Filipino customs. For them this post might be(…)
- Philippines
The Catholic Church in the Philippines and the concept of Christmas
First published by benign0 on December 06, 2010 According to retired bishop Teodoro Bacani, Santa Claus is stealing the true spirit of Christmas and as such we are seeing this supposedly blessed holiday of Christendom “deteriorating into a shopping frenzy”. Okay, padre, why don’t we go back a bit and investigate what “Christmas” really is, shall we? Ask(…)
Touristic Philippines
When someone visits the Philippine archipelago, which consists of 7107 islands and islets, he can be assured that there is much to see or to do. In this post we will look at some activities to do while in one of the many beautiful places. Diving and snorkeling With all those islands there is also(…)
Happiness in the Philippines
The Philippines has a reputation as a happy place with friendly people, but the 2012 World Happiness Report ranks the country among the least happy, or 103rd out of 155 surveyed countries worldwide. The report was published by the highly respected Columbia University’s Earth Institute. The rankings were based on a “life evaluation score”, which(…)
EVERYDAY GREETINGS in the Philippines
Tagalog speakers in the Philippines have many ways of greeting other people. These days it is also common to hear them say “Hi” or “Hello” as a form of greeting, especially among close friends and neighbors. There are no Tagalog translations for these English greetings because they are basically borrowed terms. Below are a few(…)
English in the Philippines
The Philippines is becoming the new outsourcing country in the world. Many companies prefer the Philippines above India for a better English language and start a call center here. The above text (or something similar) I have read a few times in Newspapers and forums on the internet. I am speaking a lot to many(…)
Bogart the explorer
One of the funniest Filipinos at the moment is Bogart the Explorer (real name Marco Antonio Ho). He has created a number of short movies handling different things happening in the Philippines. His latest creation is how he catches a tik-tik, a subspecies of the aswang family. If you do not know what a Tik-Tik(…)
few funny pictures
Today I will show you a few pictures I took lately from things which are remarkable or very funny. The pictures are all taken in the Manila Region on different places. In front of me in a traffic jam I spotted this strange text on the back of a pick-up truck. I have no idea(…)
Where is Papa now?
This post was first published March 2009. Some time ago I was standing on a street corner in Marikina City and take pictures of passing jeepneys for my blog about this typical public transport. Check that post here. On a certain moment I was turning around and saw a little girl holding and watching (her(…)
strong Internet in remote areas in the Philippines
When you are planning to move to the Philippines, or you have already and are enjoying the life as an Expat in the Philippines, you probably like a good working internet connection. In most cities it is not really a problem, dsl is widely available through the telephone line or through tv cable. There is(…)
Important to Know about Health Care in the Philippines
If you are moving to the Philippines or you have already, one of your last worries should be your health. You are in the Philippines because you like to enjoy your new life. But you should realize that living in the Philippines, a tropical country, but also a so-called third world country, is not the same(…)
Christmas Time in the Philippines
It is September again, which means that it is Christmas Time in the Philippines. Every year the moment a month’s name ends with -ber Filipinos start getting happier, merrier and start singing Christmas songs. September 1 is traditionally the day the ‘season’ starts. Shows on TV are wishing their audience a Happy Christmas and(…)