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    Philippines to Go: The No Bullshit Guide
    Philippines to Go: The No Bullshit Guide
    Philippines to Go: The No Bullshit Guide
    Ebook153 pages2 hours

    Philippines to Go: The No Bullshit Guide

    By Gary Wetton

    3/5

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    Read preview

    About this ebook

    While visiting or living in an exotic tropical country seems so much fun and excitement, one should see the other side of the coin. The Philippines is not for everyone. Filipinos have a very different culture than us Westerners do and you will face it on a daily basis. You will get a culture shock regardless how seasoned traveler you are.

    This might not be just traveling, you may want to live there among them. You will interact with the locals every day and maybe you will become part of a Filipino family if you marry a girl. There is poverty and there is crime. There are scams and tricks you want to avoid. There are rules and laws that are not for the benefit of a foreigner but rather protectionist. You can’t own a land or most businesses. I want to be fair with you - the Philippines is a mixed bag of positives and negatives from a foreigner’s point of view.

    You better be prepared.

    You will have to open your mind and allow different views and ideas to enter. If you are not open to these you may find yourself complaining and even suffer.

    I seriously hope this book will help you.

    If you found love online, you need it. If you want to see the pristine beaches and waterfalls just for a few weeks, you need this book. If you want to move and live in the Philippines, you need this book. I promise this will be one of your best return on your investment in your life.

    I won’t try to be nice. This is not the sugar coated travel guide written by someone who was there for three weeks and got amazed to the extent of writing a book after returning home.
    This is not the “how to hook up with a Filipina” guide. Such material is widely available elsewhere, my intention is to give you short and pragmatic info to carry in your mobile device about most things you need to know before you go.

    This is the no bullshit guide about living in the Philippines.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCyberScript
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9781301261000
    Philippines to Go: The No Bullshit Guide

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    • 5/5
      Laughed so hard at many points. Cheers and hope you're happy here!
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      Bullshit guide! How can you dare doing a book like this!

    Book preview

    Philippines to Go - Gary Wetton

    Philippines To Go – The No Bullshit Guide

    Gary Wetton

    Smashwords Edition

    Copyright © 2012 by Gary Wetton

    Cover design by Gary Wetton

    Book design by Gary Wetton

    All rights reserved.

    No part of this ebook may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic

    or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems,

    without permission in writing from the author.

    The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

    First Released: October 2012

    ISBN 9781301261000

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Special thanks to Paul Whiteway for allowing me to use some of his materials in this ebook.

    Table of Contents

    Chapter 1 Introduction

    Chapter 2 Foreword

    Chapter 3 Philippines Fact Sheet

    Chapter 4 Why the Philippines?

    Chapter 5 First Stay in Cebu

    Chapter 6 Before You Start Packing

    Chapter 7 Balikbayan Boxes

    Chapter 8 Climate

    Chapter 9 Visa

    Chapter 10 Money

    Chapter 11 Filipino Culture, Tradition, Customs, Habits

    Chapter 12 Filipino Food

    Chapter 13 Getting Around

    Chapter 14 Driver's License and Vehicle Registration

    Chapter 15 Medical Care

    Chapter 16 Cultural Attractions and Nature

    Chapter 17 Business in the Philippines

    Chapter 18 Daily Annoyances

    Chapter 19 Safety and Security

    Chapter 20 Planning a Marriage

    Introduction

    I see a trend that makes me think that soon all ebook readers will have color displays. The only question is when. In their latest release (summer 2012) Amazon has two color display Kindle Fire models and only one black and white Kindle on offer. Before Kindle Fire there were only black and white models available. What do you think?

    Apple and the makers of Android tablets and phones have never offered black and white display devices.

    Why do I say this in a preface of a book about the Philippines?

    Well, I just could not resist and added a few of my photos, the Philippines is just that colorful! Sorry fellas with black and white Kindle! For those with iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire or other color display mobile device users - you get what I mean, right on this page.

    Foreword

    Hereby I would like to thank all my Filipino / Filipina friends who helped me writing this book. They have not agreed on everything I wrote and hereby I have to stress that I had no intention to hurt anyone, to say bad things about the Filipinos who are mostly kind hearted, friendly and nice people. The issues, cultural differences and examples I used are by no means attempts to give these great people any bad light. Like my mother said: I am angry for you, not with you

    The Philippines will surely amaze you. If you have a dull life with its boring everyday errands, this book is for you. If you had a bad divorce and want a new girlfriend or wife (a beautiful one) - this book is for you. If you realize that you want to live for the rest of your life - the Philippines is for you.

    36,000km coastline... You know what it means? The Philippines have a beach almost as long as the Equator is around the globe. How cool is that?

    And the average yearly temperature is around 79.7°F (26.5°C) - what do you think?

    There is a certain freedom in the Philippines that most people who live(d) there agree on. If you don’t do something stupid, nobody will bother you. If you don’t bother others, nobody will bother you. You can do most anything you want as long as you are friendly and nice with others. Not that there are no laws or rules to follow. But you can almost forget about them, there wont be someone always around you to make you remember.

    While visiting or living in an exotic tropical country seems so much fun and excitement, one should see the other side of the coin. The Philippines is not for everyone. Filipinos have a very different culture than us Westerners do and you will face it on a daily basis. You will get a culture shock regardless how seasoned traveler you are.

    This might not be just traveling, you may want to live there among them. You will interact with the locals every day and maybe you will become part of a Filipino family if you marry a girl. There is poverty and there is crime. There are scams and tricks you want to avoid. There are rules and laws that are not for the benefit of a foreigner but rather protectionist. You can’t own a land or most businesses. I want to be fair with you - the Philippines is a mixed bag of positives and negatives from a foreigner’s point of view.

    You better be prepared.

    You will have to open your mind and allow different views and ideas to enter. If you are not open to these you may find yourself complaining and even suffer.

    I seriously hope this book will help you.

    If you found love online, you need it. If you want to see the pristine beaches and waterfalls just for a few weeks, you need this book. If you want to move and live in the Philippines, you need this book. I promise this will be one of your best return on your investment in your life.

    I won’t try to be nice. This is not the sugar coated travel guide written by someone who was there for three weeks and got amazed to the extent of writing a book after returning home.

    This is not the how to hook up with a Filipina guide. Such material is widely available elsewhere, my intention is to give you short and pragmatic info to carry in your mobile device about most things you need to know before you go.

    This is the no bullshit guide about living in the Philippines.

    Philippines Fact Sheet

    Area: 300,000 sq km, slightly larger than Arizona.

    Capitol: Manila

    Major cities: Metro Manila 11.449 million, Davao 1.48 million, Cebu City 845,000, Zamboanga 827,000

    Divisions: 80 provinces and 39 chartered cities

    Geography: the country is made up of 7,107 islands out of which about 2,000 are inhabited. The landscape is mostly mountains with usually narrow coastal land - its total coastline is over 36,000 km long.

    Language: Filipino (Tagalog) and English (official) and seven major dialects - Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, Pangasinan. Tagalog and Cebuano are the mostly spoken dialects.

    Religion: Catholic 83%, Muslim 5%, Evangelical 2.8%, other Christian 4.5%, other 4.7%

    Population: over 103 million (2012), Age distribution of the population: 0-14 years: 34.6%, 15-64 years: 61.1%, 65 years and over: 4.3%. Growth rate 1.873%.

    HIV / AIDS prevalence less than 0.1%, with this figure the Philippines is the 147th in the country ranking where Thailand is the 39th with 1.3% and the USA is the 64th with 0,6%.

    Currency: Philippine Peso (PHP). 1 USD = 44 - 41,5 PHP (in the period of September 2011 - September 2012)

    International dial code (Country Code): +63

    Mobile phone usage: close to 80 million (2010) - with this the Philippines is the 16th largest mobile phone user in the world.

    Internet users: over 8 million

    Why the Philippines?

    The global economic recovery is threatened by issues in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere. Financial conditions getting worse, growth prospects are thin and risks have escalated. Don’t get me started with the US economy, this ebook is not about that...

    What does that all mean for the small guys like you and me? If you live on a fix income, its value will most likely decrease. If you have pension, you may expect worse standards of living if you will continue to stay in the same environment where you are now.

    If you have a job, how do you know what will you have tomorrow? I am not saying you have to quit your job and move to the Philippines - but consider it together with all other matters as an option. You never know.

    If you are single you would love what you may get in the Philippines, Filipinas are famous for their beauty and given the large population and its growth rate in the country there are chances you will find a beautiful one to marry.

    Yes.

    Even if you think you are the ugliest man in the world. Or if you think you are too old for a young wife.

    Think twice. I tell you: you are not. But its only you who can prove it to yourself.

    If you want to live better on the same resources, don’t think even a bit, move to the Philippines, great life at low cost is available here. I have chosen Cebu island for various reasons. One of which was climate and others include natural beauty and safety. Therefore I was able to write this book only by using my experience in Cebu, having little or no knowledge about Manila or other parts of the Philippines. Please take this into consideration while reading.

    Let me tell you how it happened to me.

    In one of the ugly winter months in 2009 I was looking at my heating bill and got shocked. Well, I owned a big house and despite modest temperatures at all times, my heating bill just drove me crazy.

    I made all kind of calculations, charts and Excel sheets to see where to cut my expenses but it was only good for convincing me that the amount I paid was total madness. Looking at the numbers I fantasized about what I was able to buy using that money, had I not paid it for heating, electricity and such.

    As an avid traveler I translated the amount into plane ticket and accommodation costs in Asia where I have been traveling in the past decades and had to realize the money I spent for energy in a heating season was not only sufficient to cover my plane

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