About Flopie133

Status:

Repatriate 

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

Citizen Of:

United States

Dual Citizen Of:

Philippines

Past Expat Posts:

United States

About Flopie133

I retired early and brought my elderly parents home to the Philippines. I left as a child of 12, repatriated back to the PI and came back at 52. My Polish-American husband and I accomplished the move without help from my parents' relatives (a gazillion of them!) to lessen jealousy/animosity between different factions of relatives. So far, I have been lucky in establishing contacts, made a few friends and find living in the Philippines is an adventure....

Advice for New Expats

Research by actually visiting the country first and learning firsthand the intricacies of accomplishing "tasks of daily living"--market, transportation, banking...etc. learn to be an extrovert and make new friends to establish contacts.

I would love to live in...

Switzerland or Italy (Lombardy)

Education:

Loyola Unversity of Chicago
  1979 to 1983

Favorite Websites:

http://Tripadvisor and Kayak

Favorite Cuisine:

French, Japanese

Favorite Museum:

Musee d'Orsay

Favorite Movie:

My Father's Glory, Pride and Prejudice

Favorite Book:

Persuasion--Jane Austen

Some Forum Posts:

Philippines: personel hygiene:

Used to think the hose bidet was very strange as I was used to the regular bidet in France n Italy. But after the trips to Japan, not "washing up" + TP use is now my norm. In the US, normal was shower as soon as I got up, then right away after getting home from work (I was a nurse). Here, with the heat, am averaging a shower 3x a day and always before bed.

Philippines: Handling beggars:

In Tagaytay, you come across the gypsy looking ones (strange how they look exactly like the ones from Europe down to the clothing style) toting children on their hips specially around Mahogany Market.. I can't stand it when they tug at your elbow! Numerous times I would offer the fruit I am buying but they always refuse. So, I say to them, "that is your problem if you are being given something and you refused specially since you begged for food for your child. So get away from me." Pretty much meaning the "lumayas" you use. If it is around meal times and I just see 1 or 2 kids without adults around, we always have a stash of Fudgee Bars or Oreos packets in the car; I give those out WHEN WE ARE LEAVING THE PARKING LOT OR AREA, never on arrival. Always only if there are 1 or 2 kids visible. If others come out of nowhere, we say Sorry, we are out, then we drive off. When we were in Poland just 2 months ago, my husband would confront these gypsies asking why they have the kids out of school--they would usually give us a wide berth after that. More often, if to a disabled, I buy food from whatever fast food place or sari sari is around and give the semblance of a meal (food/drink/dessert)

Philippines: Warning--CAteacher's email may have been hacked:

Just a warning note--I am waiting for our Moderator to get back to me but I just got a very strange email from his yahoo address which leaves me to believe that his email may have been compromised. Waiting for him to confirm this.

Philippines: Dengue:

@minocqua, would be more concerned with Tick bites in your neck of the woods. My husband spent several weeks worrying about contacting Lyme from an actual tick bite from hiking in the Old Forests in Poland in June were tickborne diseases are prevalent.

Philippines: Banks, the NBI, and problems to live in the Philippines!:

Banks have been more and more restrictive in their rules even from 3 months ago. Even exchanging currencies in the bank despite having accounts there takes jumping through hoops with so much time wasted., What can work months ago, may not be possible today. However, with so much OFW working abroad, there are Phillippine bank branches outside the Phil that may have more lenient rules. That's the way I was able to open a BDO Kabayan account when I was still living in the US. Perhaps you can Google if there are Phil bank branches in the country you are working in and find out if you can open an account. I lived in Chicago but was able to go to a Philippine remittance branch that had contact with the BDO in California and they helped me through. The Process took 2 weeks via mail.

Philippines: Auto Accident:

Change her phone number.

Philippines: Uninvited Relatives Overstaying:

You have to set limits and conditions. Take control from the start. It is up to you to set precedence for future situations with other relatives.

Philippines: Relatives Borrowing Money:

"Borrow" 99% of the time means it will never be paid back. These days, when people talk about borrowing, I start talking about collaterals--if they cannot produce, I tell them NO, sorry. I am not a bank. And I tell them of the maintenance work that needs to be done around the house--they always back down. They always managed before I or you came to the picture; your being here makes it more convenient.

Philippines: Lunch or Dinner invitations:

That is a Given. I have learned to be blunt and tell the invited I have made reservation for a soecific number and which people, if no kids, etc. and beyond that, they would have to cover the rest of the bill. Sometimes, I make the phone call to the restaurant in front of them with the table setting, so they have learned, no hanger ons. You have to learn to say No, or to take control of the situation. They may think you are a BAD person, but you have to think for yourself, too. You have been here 2 months; tell them the Honeymoon is over and Reality has set in and you have to manage and budget your money. Tell them If you continue to foot the bill and fund everyone, you will have to borrow from them soon.

Philippines: Inheritance in the Philippines:

As with any law or amendment, it takes years for the bill processing to get through even with a Presidential decree. Just because Duterte says he wants to change the 40% rule, will it be realized in the duration of his term? I would wait until it is an actual law before I make a commitment.

Date Joined:

1/3/2013

Total Posts:

292

Posts/Day:

0.19