Life in the Philippines can be complex and difficult like any other parts of the world and recently we can say we are going through one of those periods. Not because we are unhappy but simply a re-jigging of finances and things we are upto put a hole in the wallet and a delay on rebuilding the pocket.
The internet cafe is up and sort of in a middle of a stall due to the poor internet connection provided by Smart who lack any interest in customer service I suppose that comes from running pretty much a monopoly. Not only did we bin or Smart Bro Share it which aren’t worth the money but the next net café along from us did exactly the same on the same day. Am I bitter or annoyed? To be honest I just want a reliable service you seem to get a run around on the telephone comms industry here as nobody really cares if you get what you want or not or infact don’t even update on if it will be done or not. So that’s sort of burned a big hole until it starts rolling again which it no doubt will once someone decides to do a days work at Smart.
But above the cafe the first apartment is pretty much well underway and I’m pleased with the way its looking. The budget is pretty much on course and the problem is not can we let it but can we get the second one built asap. As currently we have two people wanting a long term rental. Things are starting to get a bit more organised but I can see an extra P250,000 being needed to get everything the way we want it. Although the whole P250,000 wont be needed in lump sum it will be needed in stages to get the next two projects finished. The first one being the Sari-Sari under the second apartment then the second apartment. So many people will tell you a Sari-Sari is a waste of time but its more about what your selling rather than who you are selling to. For a start most people don’t have freezers or refrigerators so there is an instant market for frozen produce. Add another factor of being able to buy live chickens from the main egg producers you have a second business opening up. That’s even before we start looking into the sausages and cured meats. We started selling ice-pops recently not the biggest thing in the world I know wont get rich overnight but we sell a pack a day which comes to P40 profit add that to everything else going on the venture is moving more from viable to lucrative. There are so many things you can do with limited space problem is we are just about out of it this year and will need to look for our next property lot to expand or buying into houses which has hit a stumbling block. For one April is looking after Zoei full-time at the moment so cant get a loan there and I have little to nothing declared in the Philippines so I cant gain finance either. The only viable way to do it is to pay cash which in the long run will be the better deal.
I can see the next three years being hard as we start to move forward as the foundations on the ideas are starting to take shape. From our other ventures we have a sustainable income. Getting the net café going will give Jovie a stable income and the two apartments and sari-sari will be the back bone of saving for the next property. If we can gain two houses in the P1m bracket each by December I will be more than happy. Currently its a hard amount of cash to find but I am hoping a few ideas I have will pay off to push us towards the goal needed to succeed.
Why do I push so hard with so many objectives? I looked at most things and you will find most people on forums will say “you cant make money in the Philippines” or “want to make a small fortune start with a large one”. In reality everything comes down to time management and its how we will get ahead of the game. Currently Aprils parents are busy full-time with one of our ventures and Jovie is busy with the net-cafe. But the net-cafe will eventually be setup with the Sari-Sari store so that one person can operate both of them and with the apartments upstairs one person is literally running four incomes. I will progress with things online and hopefully start developing some websites. I currently have one client who is waiting for one to be done and its something I can easily build on. Some of you may be thinking but every man and his dog is online making money! but That’s only looking to make P40,000 a month from the venture as we are already sustainable. On top of that the P40,000 is for development of properties we all work as a group towards a goal that supports everyone. Why do so many people fail in the Philippines? I think a lot of it is down to the fact that many would fail regardless of country while others have bad luck and finally others don’t use what they do have available at theyre disposal. Most family members struggle to find work in the Philippines so it just makes sense to generate ideas as getting a Filipino average salary can be achieved more easily if people have money or products to start with. We hit a hurdle in December – January which hit us financially hard. But we are still here and will no doubt recoup and move forward from it we may have received a bloody nose in one of the ventures but its already starting to recover and no doubt 2010 is going to be more prosperous.
I didnt forget about the aquaponics by the way its simply that Smart has taken up so much of my time recently on top of getting the net cafe finished that we will hopefully begin the fish production in March all going well.
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Another day in sunny Cebu and time to get the vehicles up and running. We have had a few problems across the board so after yesterdays breakdown in the City today is getting everything to work day. Due to the climate things rust faster and generally play havoc with the electrical side of the vehicles. My scooter electrical start hasn’t worked in over a year although kick starts easily. Have spent a few hours previously trying to sort the fault but it looks like “teenagers” have messed around before making it pretty difficult to find out what they connected to what without completely stripping the electrical circuits and starting again. Don’t you love it when people mess around with stuff they don’t understand.
The Jeepy on the other hand is a reliable piece of equipment. Not posh or shiny just a solid piece of vehicle with only one purpose getting from A to B. No Aircon, cooling or even a solid roof. But a good Toyota engine shoved into an old Jeep chassis and because of the simplicity of the vehicle the fan belt that broke yesterday was replaced in an hour. Didn’t have to plug in any diagnostics PC to repair this vehicle. Now the Jeepy is back up and running its time to fix the Multicab which appears to be having an alternator problem which has killed the battery. So off to the store to grab a set of jump leads so I can jump start the multicab and test the charging circuit. Hopefully by the end of the day everything will be back up and running as the Jeepy gets a bit heavy on regular fuel usage compared to the Scooter for local runs and the multicab for the city runs. The thing I do like about the Jeepy though is its ideal for photo opportunities because of its open sides.
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I will let you decide what type of day I had today. It initially started with a quiet morning waking up to “showtime” Cebu which had a competing team from Minglanilla and then headed off to double check our Smart Bro share it connection. Quick speed test and it came back at 0.04 (should be 1.00+) well I know it should reach 2mb with the two connections so to say its poor is an understatement. A quick phone call and the same excuses later. “we have put it to our technical support and they will contact you within 24hrs”. Its been a month and not once have they called back in the number of times we have called them. They are simply doing nothing but stalling. So enough is enough packed up the crappy routers and took them back to the agent at PLDT who quickly passed the buck to the SM branch as they cant process it at the PLDT branch. Yet they were quick enough selling it to us from there? Well no point arguing I needed a desk to stick them on so I can stop paying for the damn things. 20 minutes later I was in SM North wing at Smart Bro another wait on a ticket system and finally I can deal with someone who can actually do something. First issue was “im not the client” as my wife ordered the units. But I had already drafted a letter before I left the house that April signed. Next was I needed ID what do I need ID for im returning units? ? Do they ask the same question for couriers? After a discussion I dumped one of the routers there and kept one to keep the net connection going until we get the canopy service. A lot of people may say the canopy service is bad but we already have the service nearby which is running at 750kbs the internet cafe was managing on 400kbs at best and still managing to get customers so reducing our costs by P1,000 a month and getting a reliable stable connection is all we really need then hopefully it will stop a lot of the errors im also getting on software. I think the updates are being corrupted due to poor connection causing data loss. Left all relevant paperwork and complaints processed as well as the long log of calls that were made to Smart about the service.
It was about now life got interesting. SM is very busy at the moment by the way the overspill car park has some sort of stage going up so be warned parking is busy. Anyway the SRP has been a bit congested after 3pm lately so I decided to cut through the city to save time. Good or bad is hard to say as I ended up breaking down near Mango square. Who helped push the jeepy out of the middle lane of the road? was it fellow motorists.. you can bet for sure they wouldnt! their idea of helping is beeping horns as that seems to fix most things?? anyway luckily 3 of the tubig (water) sellers helped get it to the side of the road. Radiator was out of water so refilled and we managed to bump start it. I gave the guys P200 for helping some of you may think that is too much but to be honest I would rather overpay and have them help me again if I need it than be left stranded. A good investment as I started heading home I began to wonder what is causing the problems with the engine as it overheated the other day aswell which was very unusual. Knowing from previous experiences of when I first started driving I came to the conclusion it must be alternator trouble which was proven right about 5 minutes later as my lights started to dim. Now driving home in the dark with no lights tucking in tight behind vehicles to avoid being picked up for not having lights by the police I drifted through 4 intersections with traffic police. Luck was on my side and I managed to make it home. I had switched off the lights to conserve power also the engine began to stall with them on as it was beginning to kill the engine which is why it eventually stopped right under the Mango tree with the light at Aprils parents place. I quick check of the engine found that the fan belt had come off and jammed behind the fan. A quick repair tomorrow and back on the road. One of the main reasons we bought the jeepy in the first place is there is very little to go wrong. The engine is a 1997 Toyota Engine out of a Corolla it has the extra pulley for the air conditioning or power steering neither really needed on our open Jeepy. But the rock solid chassis and engine will no doubt keep us on the road for years to come.
So internet will hopefully be sorted within a week, made it home and repairs to the jeepy are 30 minutes in the morning was it a good day, bad day or a Smart Bro day?
Either way tomorrow is another day and im just looking forward to getting things sorted so I can get on with something that generates more income.
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Construction started yesterday on our first apartment in Minglanilla. I have heard a lot of people say Minglanilla is too far from the city compared to Li-Loan which is in the North but I think its actually closer than Li-loan in travel time due to us having the SRP on our doorstep which is a quick road into SM Mall bypassing all the traffic in Pardo and central Cebu. The northern end of Cebu seems to have had a construction explosion of properties but nobody has increased the road size to compete with the demand now needed on it. But here in the South although we have our rush hour chaos like everywhere else we do seem to get a lot less “hourly” traffic. Couple that with Gaisano Fiesta Mall a quick jeepney ride and 5 minutes from the main road heading south we can be in Naga within 10 minutes and onwards to Argao and Moalboal for beaches and diving.
Getting back to the Apartments what sort of rent should we be looking to charge? I have been looking at comparisons with local rents and “general costs” and I think P7,000 a month is a reasonable rent although the apartments are fairly compact they will be inclusive of :-
- Television.
- Wi-Fi /internet.
- Water supply cold + drinking.
- Furnished.
- 2 gas hob inc gas.
- Inclusive of Electricity.
There are also other things available as extras :-
- Vehicle hire.
- Driver+Vehicle hire.
- Fully operational net café facilities.
- Guide service.
- PC hire for the apartment for P300 a month.
- Sari-Sari store for food stocks (opening soon).
- Laundry Service.
- Grocery delivery service.
Another reason the apartments could be handy is for those of you not only visiting Cebu looking for cheap accommodation short/long stay. But also if you have a partner awaiting visa processing we can receive international transfers by remittance or bank transfers to save you on Western Union costs. On top of that we are happy to help with advice or information as always.
If interested please feel free to drop us an email at mattwilkie@tropicalpenpals.com
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I have just got up at 4am to talk to my daughter Nicole online as my Skype phone went off. As I sorted my morning coffee I was starting to think am I turning into one of those miserable guys who just write negative things? The conclusion I came to is not that I have become negative but just a lot of negative things have been happening recently. Take yesterday pre-called Nu-Tech in E-Mall for two IDE hard drives, an IDE DVD burner and a printer. Not difficult as we explained exactly what we wanted before I spent thirty minutes in rush hour traffic getting there finding the only thing the had was the 1 IDE drive everything else they didn’t have. Why did they tell us the complete opposite on the phone?? who knows.. did they misunderstand me on the phone your thinking. It wasn’t me that phoned it was April with a list of exactly what we wanted. So I will cut the negative chat off there as hopefully its the last negative thing to happen for a while and concentrate on what positive things have been happening.
The net café is starting to become viable as word is spreading we have a few advantages and disadvantages. First one being we don’t have a great internet connection but we do have Xbox’s which none of the Cafes nearby have. We have also noticed that sorting 2 player games out allows the players to double up and spend more money on the machines the result being that we are looking to put more Xbox’s in as currently they are full most of the time. The cafe itself we stocked with some treats this week and lolly pops seem to go well at P1 each but the bigger stocks we think the kids prefer to stick the money in time instead of spending on food. I’m hoping it will be seriously viable within three months so that Jovie can do this full-time. Jovie by the way is my sister in-law. The internet cafe is part of a project we are developing. At the moment we are seeing how it develops as word of mouth is bringing people in from a lot further than I had expected. Initially I thought we would just be busy with our neighbourhood but what is really happening is people are coming from probably upto a mile a way you might find it funny that we are concerned with people that sort of distance which in Western terms wouldn’t mean a lot in a village. But there are thousands of homes across that distance here and that is what counts. The reason we are waiting for things to settle down is that the base of operations for more cafes will run from the main one as we can soak test equipment and pre-install ready for an opening as well as the other things we are looking at doing. For example “free” training in Basic computer usage as well as small premium package training like the ECDL (European Computer Driving License) to train people in the use of day to day packages they can use for work. Even better can do the work at the net café. It will in essence turn from a net café to a multimedia business suite with business support services. Wont happen over night and wont happen with a small budget but it will happen phased in over the next year.
Above that we have just received the delivery of the first loads of concrete, hollow blocks and sand which are for the apartment that will start construction next week. Hoping that will be a success as the next 2 stages are relying on the net café and apartment to get them complete. Which is Apartment 2 and the Sari-sari store.
A lot of people will tell you Sari-Sari stores cant make more than a living but as I have said before everything is down to time management. For example the internet cafe I am looking at converting the machines onto timed cash slots as this would pretty much do away with the need for a teller unless customers need assistance as even on training nights/days it would be upto the user to feed the machine as that is the reason for the “free training” as the machine hire is seperate. But freeing up Jovie from having to log the machines in and out allows her to operate sales on the Sari-Sari. Which in reality means the profits/salary can easily double due to two ventures in one. Top that with the two apartments above and the business is viable and likely to stay a float for a long time in the future. The other reason we are doing it like this is it fits into our budget. By the time all phases are complete I would have expected a price tag of around P1m and a return of around P20,000+ a month may seem a small amount as the repayment will be several years but its not because it creates a full-time job for Jovie and at the same time we will be receiving a regular income towards our next projects which currently stand at two P1m houses which at this moment in time seem a bit far to reach financially but only thing holding us back is time as things are moving forward and viable already. There are lots nearby that if they become available I would love for us to get them as they would be ideal for apartments. Infact one already has a block of 6 apartments which has never been completed due to financial restraints and illness on the owner. Ideally would love to be renting those out at around P5,000 a month including internet + Cable TV each which may seem cheap because it is. But my prime objective is keeping people happy and the building full same as the net café. Its the regular incomes that generate the ability to move forward financially. But its not yet ready for sale so will just have to wait and see.
I have spent the last couple of days looking for a couple of water pumps for the Aquaponic experiment. Haven’t been so lucky yet but just a quick note to say the idea is still in my head and I do have two large plastic bins for the fish ready and also visiting a professor who deals with fisheries in the area shortly. Also I might do an expat video while there as I think others would find it interesting to see what goes on.
So as you can see not all things are negative but we do have the odd day where I go home closing the door and thinking tomorrow is another day. Not sure how April is on those days as she generally keeps quiet because of it being a bad day. Anyway this is the last update for today its now 5.30am Nicole has gone off to the Pub back in the UK with her step dad and mother so I’m heading back to bed for an hour as I seem to leave the net café around midnight most nights these days.
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The amount of times I have had to explain about wealth in relation to inflation and relative cost of living has been pretty countless since I moved to the Philippines. The majority of people who understand what it really means are either Expats themselves or/are OFW`s. I will be the first to admit I have a fairly good standard of living and our life here in the Philippines is not only a lot more stable than others but expanding financially aswell as venture wise. What a lot of people don’t understand is my background. My father was in the Army and I got to travel around the world to where my father was stationed along with my siblings and mother. Army life is an experience that doesn’t really match with civilian life as your used to working together and your friendships are generally for life. The majority of my friends were in the same situation although when we lived in Germany we had a large mix of local friends aswell. Life in a military family also means things like schooling is at army schools which to be honest its not until you experience “general” UK schooling that you realise how much higher the standards at the Army schools are. I’m not talking financial but just how the schools operate and standards of education. We eventually moved back to the UK in 1989 when I undertook my last year of school and exams. Big problem with that was most of my subjects were different and learned what most students had been doing for 2 years in 6 months. After leaving school I then moved into Youth Training and became an electronics engineer working for a cowboy outfit A.S. Alarms with my old boss Barry Smith who eventually spent some time in prison for paying for contracts with brown envelopes. He got rid of me on my second year because I wanted a full-time salary as at that time a long time friend of mine now Ken was employed to drive me round as I could install the systems were Ken had no electronic/electrical background and I was too young to drive. He is the only person I know who everyone literally hated. When he went to jail I received phone calls off different people happy to see him jailed. Which was many years on by then. After I finished my electronics I then went back to college and studied again micro processing paying my way by working in a nightclub several nights a week.
I wont give you too much of the boring details but after my electronics I went back to study Carpentry and Joinery as I had become a cabinet maker during the recession of the early 90s. It was also a hard time family wise as my father had come out of the army and was struggling to find work. Especially in the Worcester area which as a farming City has very low salaries which is why to this day I generally work in Birmingham or London areas. The salary difference can often be 2 or 3 times that of Worcester. I remember these times very well as I was flat broke financially most of it. Doing a lot of crap jobs and getting through college. Having my own flat (apartment) and sometimes having to miss meals for 2 – 3 days so that I could pay the rent.
It was during this period that I then re-trained as a Business + Bar manager at the same time as going through my worst times in my life with the ex from hell. Looking back I just think she was plain crazy and I am glad our paths haven’t crossed for over a decade. Why bar management? Simply because I couldn’t find work so the governments solution is to stick you on training courses (If you want to learn). Which I was trying hard to do anything to find work. I always remember college days of not having enough petrol to go to college and back so used to park halfway and walk the rest each day.
By the time I met Peggy who is my ex-girlfriend of 11 years things had started to improve and generally work was getting easier to find and the long hours began I was a carpenter for a company that built houses in flat pack form that was erected on site. It was at Purpose Built in Malvern I started to get the real taste of hard work and money. Working overtime each day and weekends I was already earning 3 x that of most of my friends and generally I have been the same upto date. I work an average of 16 hours a day and 7 days a week if its available. When I’m in the Philippines I’m sitting doing things like this at 3am because I struggle to switch off.
Am I lucky? If I filled in a lot of the hard times above you would see more of a Dickens novel life has been pretty hard over the years and everything I have I gained through hard work. There was no silver spoon in my mouth and its the fact I will brush myself off when things go wrong and get back up again to fight another day. I don’t think luck played a part of my working career but it did play a part in how I met my wife April. There were times in my life before which edged on suicide to get out of my hell of a life. Some people would say that is the easy option but its only from experience of those thoughts its more to do with lost hope and despair. If I was someone considering it now I would just say get back up and brush yourself off. When things get really bad polish off a bottle of brandy to forget and go back to life in the morning.. with a clear mind. There is always something round the next corner and if you put the work in you will get the rewards out. It doesn’t always come quickly but it will eventually arrive.
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No doubt most of you will be sitting enjoying your Christmas and spending time with your loved ones. But I find as I get older my concerns grow for the people around us more. Dont get me wrong being around my family is the best gift a Christmas can give but its things like arriving in the Philippines seeing the damage done by Mount Mayon
where many families will have lost everything they own yet in most cases had very little to start with. Spending Christmas in some make shift emergency centre. Im well aware the world isnt mine to fix and no doubt there is more to come as the chances of a full eruption grow. But its the Filipino spirit that keeps people smiling even in the worst of scenarios. Luzon has experienced Typhoons, flooding and now a volcano this year. Yet the real problems are still arriving with the risk of disease and infections.
What do I want you to do about it? simply its your own decision on what you do. But one thing I noticed over the years is that when im sat in traffic or things like my wages getting messed up in accounts it all becomes small issues like a speck of dust. As there are much bigger problems in the world yet you see no one yelling at the gods.. as the saying goes “shit happens” and thats pretty much it. When you feel your getting annoyed at something just way up is yelling really going to fix the problem and is the problem really that big?
The day before I left for the Philippines I crashed my brothers car so instantly out of pocket by £250.00 but the important thing is no one was hurt and that I was on my way home. There is always a positive in a negative and we should go through life with that thought. Complaining is easy finding the solutions is the hard part.
Merry Christmas to everyone and we wish you all the best for the future.
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Arrived back yesterday afternoon to Cebu. Was hoping to do a video on route etc. But simply everything literally ran like clock work. I arrived at Digbeth coach station in Birmingham had a free sample coffee from Starbucks (near bus station new coffee stop) and my coach arrived. It was lucky the coffee was there as it was freezing at two degrees at 7am I was happy to get loaded and onto the coach. A nap attack later I awoke just in time to head into Heathrow and off to my flight. Normally I am very early for flights to avoid being pestered about excess baggage as most air companies will let you have a little excess without charging. But today was different there was a huge queue because I was within 2hrs of my flight. After a 40min wait I checked in my luggage without problem just glad they didn’t weigh my hand luggage as there was a lot of extras in my bags which weighed them down ( I transferred my heavy goods into the bottom of my camera case etc ) so was carrying a lot more than I should. But the miles of walking round the airports was enough punishment. As I got to the departure lounge after the security checks I normally go into Harrods to grab an annual teddy bear but glancing to check the gate of my flight I noticed it had already started to board so a sharp exit to the aircraft was needed and I was quickly on my way. I spent the flight to Hong Kong with Miss World Australia.
Who had just finished her tour with the other girls from the Miss World contest and now returning home to Australia. Had an interesting conversation and Sophie is looking to move forward with her career as she enjoys things dancing and hopefully will get some work in the West End or out in the U.S. who knows just wish her well for the future. One of the things I do love about air travel is the people you can meet along the way. Previously I have spent hours on flights with a Nun who was heading into Cebu who enjoyed a few Heinekens on the flight aswell as a guy from Norway who had been on his first holiday invited by his brother as he spent most of his life working and hadn’t had time to travel. His brother had organised a woman to pick him up at the Airport although he hadn’t met her and she had a photo that was out of date. Never found out what happened after they met.
Anyway getting back to the travel. I arrived in Hong Kong with a stiff back and tired after the uncomfortable ride but did have time to watch District 9 which is a great movie for those of you who are Sci-fi buffs also watched Will Farrell`s stand up show as “George Bush” which to be honest I hated it but not sure if it was Will Farrell`s fault as I hate George Bush and its difficult to mock someone who was such a real fool in his racist and strange personalities so only managed 20mins of that before having to switch it off. I like Hong Kong Airport as its so modern only issue I would have is the gates are always miles away from arrival to departure. But the shop selection is good and its a nice clean upscale Airport aswell as swift and efficient service. 
The flight was a little delayed so when I had got to Hong Kong it was another run to the aircraft no time to shop but a quick log on with the itouch to let people know I had arrived and then boarding again. The flight from Hong Kong to Cebu is around 2hrs and 15 minutes so an hours nap and I woke up just in time to look down on Luzon (Island which houses Manila) It was a bit odd as the land looked scarred I originally thought from the flooding as a lot of the land still seemed to be under water for Paddy fields etc. near the coast but it was when I arrived in Cebu my wife told me Luzon had a volcano erupt in the last few days. Luzon really has taken a battering this year with so many things from Typhoons, flooding and now the volcano. You could see a clear path where the lava had rolled and over spilled. Something that I will probably only see once in a lifetime but one of those sights that will be remembered.
I arrived in Cebu and made my dash for immigration. First off and into the immigration your out within 2mins ready for collecting luggage. Instead of a 30 minute queuing. Only problem was the baggage took 40 minutes to arrive. But cant have it all my way. I got a taxi up to SM and connected my itouch to the free Wi-Fi and hooked up to April via Yahoo she was already in a taxi on route. Before I had finished my coffee she had arrived and off we went heading home..
Its surprising this time because I have been away for 8 months it was just strange getting used to being home. Bit like a dream which hasnt sunk in yet. It was good to see everyone and the transformation at my in-laws house has been huge house is looking great and the internet cafe is just about to get loaded up for opening at the weekend. Will be more of a “Cafe” though simply because the internet isn’t connected yet. Main thing is though I get the network all up and running.
All I can say is its great to be home! Looking forward to spending time with Zoei and April. As well as the projects we have planned for this year.
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Tags: Aswell, Bus Station, Camera Case, cebu, Clock Work, Coach Station, Departure Lounge, Excess Baggage, Hand Luggage, Harrods, Heinekens, Miss World Australia, Miss World Contest, Nap Attack, Returning Home, Security Checks, Sharp Exit, Starbucks, West End, Yesterday Afternoon |
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Its now Saturday morning and time to get ready to go.. busy looking at my bags and wondering what really is going to make it to the Philippines. Got 5 bags and need to fit it all into 2 and cut the weight at the same time. Where is the Tardis? Anyway this week has been a bit of an odd one as normally leaving work is pretty cut and dry very rarely do I meet people that I want to keep in touch with (those of you from old contracts know how many you are..lol) but the thing is its odd leaving a place that I wasn’t there that long but a great bunch of people are there. Its a pity that the restructure will pretty much dismantle everything that is good within the company. It will be odd not having Jenna around with our random conversations and discussions of soup. Or the chatting while Donovan is trying to work and having to come in later once I’ve gone out.. But more importantly I hope everyone keeps in touch as I made a lot of great friends. I’m now in the Limbo part of going home where I’m still thinking about work, sorting the luggage and looking forward to getting home to my wife. No doubt at the 6am I start to head off to Heathrow next week it will all be on a higher note and ill be logging a few email addresses to send exploits of my travels as I head home. Its also strange that as I begin to head home I seem to be spending less time with my wife online but I’ve noticed that a lot as Zoei has got older the more she needs to be under a watchful eye.
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Tags: 6am, Contracts, Donovan, Email Addresses, Expat Diary, Exploits, Going Home, Great Friends, Heathrow, Limbo, Lol, luggage, No Doubt, philippines, Random Conversations, Restructure, Saturday Morning, Tardis, travels, Watchful Eye |
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But above the cafe the first apartment is pretty much well underway and I’m pleased with the way its looking. The budget is pretty much on course and the problem is not can we let it but can we get the second one built asap. As currently we have two people wanting a long term rental. Things are starting to get a bit more organised but I can see an extra P250,000 being needed to get everything the way we want it. Although the whole P250,000 wont be needed in lump sum it will be needed in stages to get the next two projects finished. The first one being the Sari-Sari under the second apartment then the second apartment. So many people will tell you a Sari-Sari is a waste of time but its more about what your selling rather than who you are selling to. For a start most people don’t have freezers or refrigerators so there is an instant market for frozen produce. Add another factor of being able to buy live chickens from the main egg producers you have a second business opening up. That’s even before we start looking into the sausages and cured meats. We started selling ice-pops recently not the biggest thing in the world I know wont get rich overnight but we sell a pack a day which comes to P40 profit add that to everything else going on the venture is moving more from viable to lucrative. There are so many things you can do with limited space problem is we are just about out of it this year and will need to look for our next property lot to expand or buying into houses which has hit a stumbling block. For one April is looking after Zoei full-time at the moment so cant get a loan there and I have little to nothing declared in the Philippines so I cant gain finance either. The only viable way to do it is to pay cash which in the long run will be the better deal.
