south west monsoon in the Philippines

This week eighty percent of Greater Manila was covered in waters that in some parts were nearly two meters (six feet and six inches) deep, after more than a normal August’s worth of rain was dumped on the city in 48 hours. More than twenty people have died and two million others have been serious(…)

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Paying less on international calls

Everyone knows that you can use Skype, Google Voice and other services to make free calls to Philippines and most other countries. But this only works if both sides have access to a computer with a fast internet connection and a microphone / headset and go online at the same time. If this is not(…)

Pearl of the Orient, a historic view

The Philippines is sometimes called the Pearl of the Orient or Pearl of the Orient Seas. As an expat living in this beautiful country I can think of 7107 magnificent Filipino pearls, or the many beautiful Filipinas living in this country. There are so many wonderful orchids and other flowers, or so many other delicious(…)

Filipino Time and how I hate it

If there is something an expat in the Philippines should get used to, it is the Phenomenon “Philippine Time‘, ‘Filipino time‘ or ‘Juan Time‘. Filipino time is the habit of Filipinos by always showing up late, wherever they have to go. Not only in family gatherings like weddings, baptismals and the like, but also on(…)

american style lunch for expats in the Philippines

When Flor and I visited Santa Rosa a few days ago, we went to the new “Nuvali” center where several shops are and a Robinsons supermarket. Of course there are also some restaurants, and since it was lunch time we decided to enter Chubby’s “Buffalo Wings N Things”. It’s not a large place but can(…)

poetic texts at eatery in Cainta Philippines

As an Expat in the Philippines and living in this beautiful country I see lots of things. Not only the poverty, the smoke belching cars, the many garbage in some streets, but also the smiling faces of the friendly people and their ways of expressing themselves. I have reported about this kind of things already(…)

hacker attempt on expat in the philippines website

Yesterday and the day before yesterday (May 24 and 25, 2012) a hacker has been busy trying to attack this website. Luckily Expat in the Philippines is well protected by a safe login (I think) and safe passwords (I think). Hacking this website will be difficult, but I am not saying impossible. I change login(…)

beer t-shirt for expats in the Philippines

Expats in the Philippines needs good clothing. Large malls seem to know that. It seems they know exactly what an Expat in the Philippines needs: a good beer and a slogan to go with it (or said in another way: an excuse to drink the beer). When I was at SM a few days ago(…)

new trend in the Philippines

One of the latest NEW things I am noticing lately as an Expat in the Philippines is funny stickers on cars. The stickers are transparent with white printed characters on it. The characters represent the owner of the car and his complete family including pets. And sometimes there are even the names of the family(…)

funny packing ideas for the Philippines

Knowing the Philippine behavior in copying a lot from other countries, it is just a matter of time when the Philippine establishments will have funny packing bags as well. As an expat, and living in the Philippines, people from all over the world send me emails containing pictures, stories jokes and more of that stuff.(…)

modern time requires modern lay-out

When I look at the Expat in the Philippines statistics I can see lots of interesting things about the visitors of this website. One of the things is what operating system they are using on their PC, and what browser they use. Other parts of the statistics show me the resolution of the screen they(…)

customer care and service in the Philippines

When an Expat in the Philippines needs to buy something he has to go to one of the many available shops or offices available in this country. When you need paint, you go to a paint shop, for food you go to the market or a supermarket and for a car you go to a(…)