I apologise for talking a lot on politics for yesterday and today but the reason is things back in the UK will always affect Expats in someway so even if we often like to ignore our old countries its always worth noting what is going on there in case it can affect pensions, passports, exchange rates etc.

The hung parliament which is just about to draw to a close on its ballots is probably going to be as bad as it is good for the country. The reason being any major changes will be blocked by either side as they struggle to get an overall majority for change. Now with a government with little debt or need for change it would be great as it would stop these clowns getting into more trouble, but instead we aren’t in a good financial status or any other the UK is pretty much ready for a collapse if nobody takes the lead and others follow. The Labour government has swollen the ranks of government workers and contractors to an unsustainable level as well as set up hundreds of committes and self elected bodies which are more in line with Greece’s “ghost” organisations for political supporters than anything else the Qwango’s certainly don’t show any benefit to anyone unless your actually on one. Restructuring the government services will be something that is going to cause protests without a doubt and I don’t think it can be ignored anymore. Same goes for the “benefit class” or unemployed I am all for forcing people into work if they like it or not I have spent enough of my hard earned money keeping people in a lifestyle that doesn’t encourage them to earn a single pound but instead sign a bit of paper and say “I can’t find a job”. The UK lacks engineers and other sectors its about time companies were encouraged to take on people and convert a lay about into a skilled worker who is not only valued locally but also overseas opportunities.

The last two things are the issue of uncontrolled immigration and getting people to start saving and stop spending. If they can sort out all of the above it can surely only mean the UK will recover over the next decade. If they don’t we are just sipping champagne on the SS Titanic just waiting for that iceberg to hit our unsinkable ship??

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It would easy to fill hundreds of pages of things that did and have gone wrong for a lot of expats but often they all come back to the expat themselves. One of the biggest problems is “trust” anyone who has been stung second time around if they survived have learned to treat everyone as if they will steal from you and it may sound a lot to not trust anyone but in reality its easy to be cautious than risk lose everything. What sort of thing am I talking about? it could be someone running a chicken restaurant with their girlfriend to later find out when he isn’t there the workers are selling their own chicken and the owners stock splitting direct profits with his girlfriend. Leaving the business to bankruptcy very quick. Or maybe the construction projects where someone will go and get materials and ask for a receipt which is 1/3rd or double the material costs they collected pocketing the difference (Stores will write what you want on a lot of receipts!). Or could be the expat who is working abroad part time to find out while he is away his wifes ex is living in his house riding his wife every night and only finds out by mistake when a neighbour mentioned he thought he had left because a new guy had moved in while he was away.

These are all trust issues and its being able to put systems into play that protect you at every opportunity. Running a store run a tight ship on all transactions even put a cheap POS system in that runs off a PC (google around for one!) if you stock take every week you will quickly find stocks going astray and if they are be ruthless. How about a fish business delivering fish to businesses? One of the biggest scams on that is your drivers selling their own fish alongside yours. Random monitoring is needed there is a reason why people at shop counters here are in threes and it isn’t for customer service its to make sure thefts don’t happen. In the fish business or food delivery like a military unit you need to seperate people off that purely do checks and don’t mix with the routine staff make it company policy if need be as they are employed to find your thieves. Trust is something that needs to be earned not given and if you give it freely at some point you will be bitten and it will definitly leave a bitter taste.

Excuses for not turning up is another problem many face in business and the excuses vary considerably everything from being sick to heavy rain. Either way you need to look at how you can implement a system that is going to make people at least let you know in advance at best less down time. Some businesses even fine employees for not turning up not sure of the legalities of that and everything is different depending on the business type. E.g. having 3 days off in a month may cost a monthly bonus loss for example might work better as we all get ill sometimes at the same time don’t be taken for a mug.

Stock supplies are a regular headache people have here and im not sure what the idea is of poor trading practices. E.g. stock unavailable or price hiking. In the U.K. if you did that you would quickly see a new supplier jump at the chance of forcing out their competition. Here its often difficult to source one supplier of some goods due to the way the whole country is setup.

Employees getting bitter is another major factor and although haven’t seen it myself I have heard of stories of locals threatening company owners with getting them deported. Not the fact they hadn’t shown up for work for a few days without notice or caught stealing thats irrelevant. So the important thing here is make sure everything is legal and above board as well as create a paper trail of failings by the employee. Same as the U.K. research local laws and how the policies need to be implemented cover your back.

That’s a lot of the business issues covered and I don’t want to end up with this being a rant. But most problems leak into relationships, family issues or generally people you meet along the way. The mentality and cultural differences between the West and the Philippines people is huge and often I find myself thinking this doesn’t make any sense what so ever. Things get done two or three times because nobody follows what you say or even tries. Often “yes” will mean “I will do it my own way”. To the point you start wondering “why the hell am I here?”

The frustrations every expat face are all pretty similar which is why when you meet up and discuss with others you will find your not going crazy the other expats are going through the same thing. For me my biggest issues are the majority of people are uninterested in learning or changing that I have met. I worked in construction for nearly 20 years so what the hell would I know about making things faster or better quality? Business wise my biggest fear is I may just quit and go back to the U.K. if people are unable to adapt and willing to change. I won’t waste the next 20 years trying to fix something that nobody can see is broken. Yet OFW’s I met we have had funny conversations because they have seen a lot of the methods outside of the country and can understand why things are done that way. But it all comes back to the same saying that many people will justify things with “but this is the Philippines".

Changing the subject onto relationships now there are many traits that if you have been here a while you notice with other peoples wives and girlfriends which you can quickly guess the outcome of the relationship. Not because I have some super marriage detecting powers but from seeing the mistakes others have made and the traits shine right through a lot of the women. A recent accurance for example was someone who was quick to dismiss something as beneath her yet the same thing is used daily by the majority of people in the Philippines and the same thing continued throughout the day with different things. Very obvious she forgets where she came from literally only a few months ago which makes me wonder what happens when her partner goes back to work abroad and the money isn’t so readily available. Maybe another one of those girls with the 4 Western Union chat boyfriends sending money while she waits.. or even worse once she gets to the U.S. looking for the divorce papers as soon as she can for her 50%. The other thing is you don’t have to be a detective a lot of the time because when women talk together they will often tell it to the other women what they get upto. The local boyfriend, another boyfriend arriving next week once they wave this one off there are literally hundreds of things that go on. I was discussing things with a friend of mine the other day and he had read about bizarre instances of things going on in Latin America. After hearing some of the stories I told him he started to realise the stories in Latin America are very likely to be true.

Now on a positive note if people listen to other expat’s (that do get into business etc) you are likely to reduce your risks. But be aware there are a lot of sharks amongst the expats aswell. Many are making a living here and a lot of it comes from green guys like you who have just arrived.. Im a little different as I have a habit of rebelling against the norm throughout my life which is why the apartment we rent out is cheaper than most at P7,000 inclusive of everything. Even most of our tenants food is collected from market every day because my mother inlaw is there most days herself. I rent out my jeepy cheap here because I know people get hammered by rental rates or it requires a driver. If you haven’t driven in Cebu before I would advise a driver though purely because there is few markings to where you are going aswell as the general traffic chaos. Can hire myself cheaply though can’t believe I work for less than a taxi. But then again your buying into my experiences as well that I share freely. The reason I do that is that the more smart expats there are the less risks there are to us all. I doubt we will ever become a whole community but no harm in giving people pointers in the hope people actually remember to say “thank you!” if it actually makes a difference to their life. My rate for the jeepy? (P2,000 per day inc of me without me is P1,500 but strongly don’t advise if you haven’t driven here before).

So if life is so crap why am I here? most of my problem is I am still young in comparison to a lot of people. I’m 36 most projects here take a lot of money to start then you have to wait a few months to recoup before moving to the next project. That is where my problem lies.. I hate sitting still I have plenty of ideas and they will all eventually happen presently I want to develop a small rental block on a new lot which could cost upto P6million which is based round modular construction. Each apartment can be built as an individual allowing for rentals to come in one by one phasing things in over maybe two years to get it all done. At the same time I am looking at CebuExpat.com to keep me busy but even that I am hoping to involve others not because I need to but purely want other peoples perspectives on things as well as creating something of great interest to all. TropicalPenpals.com was originally just a way to air my views and get the information out there to make life easier for the arriving expat. CebuExpat on the other hand will be more commercialised designed round a different type of website. Same people no doubt and hopefully more readers but just having the right information will make life even easier. E.g. I could write a restaurant review on Tropicalpenpals.com but within Cebuexpat you will find the location and menu. Different type of data although same location. Its a real pain to find things sometimes and this is why CebuExpat.com is being developed not for the “cherries on isle 5 of robinsons mall” but things like “for house removals or freight these companies have already been tried and tested”. If the service is good or bad its important YOU write a review if you used them. Otherwise you can’t complain when there is no information!! lol.. same with “things to do” there are a lot of things that are poorly published throughout the Philippines and could be that your living in the next street to a holiday resort that allows people to swim there everyday and you don’t know it.. or a local theme park. I really want all this information in one place not just for me but for everyone arriving, living and trying to develop business here. I am not just talking about Expats either I know I have a lot of Pinoy’s reading this blog as well and its important you share your knowledge and experiences too.

Anyway if your a new expat please just take your time on anything you do. The realtor trying to talk you into buying a house which has just come on the market has probably been on the market 2 years already and is probably at least a million pesos over priced. Don’t buy a place rent and don’t rent anything you don’t need. e.g. don’t rent a 3-4 bed house because its P20,000 and it isn’t a lot to you when your going to be working abroad and only your partner is left behind. You can find a 1-2 bedroom place for less than P10,000 a month giving you a spare P10,000 for emergencies or paying the bills. Don’t buy an expensive vehicle as there are few buyers who can pay in cash most require installments so if for example your partner gets a visa who is going to look after your shiny new vehicle while abroad? its very likely to be run into the ground while your away or worse. Way up the lifestyle changes of your partner as most people think we are rich in the Philippines. Prime example was a friend of mine who started dating his maid after a couple of weeks she stopped doing any of the housework and just sat and watched TV. He fired her later on they got back together but its the fact that a lot of people assume they can ride the gravy train of your bank account don’t let them. I know of other expats employing other relatives to do house duties at inflated rates to the point those relatives will never work again as they get paid more for running a duster round once a day than they would working a 12 hour shift in a factory. You open these doors to an easy life a lot of people will gladly be the driver, the maid, yaya or cook. But you don’t need them and you need to remember life isn’t always sunny side up so prepare for the worst which involves using your spare capital to develop a sustainable income.

If you want any advice from me you can get it free online or telephone,email or meet ups which I used to do all for free until I started to realise its using all my time and 90% of expats never took it on board to later fall into trouble. I know I sound harsh and blunt but its down to the fact your life is cheap here if you don’t cover your back you can be left penny less, dead or both. Anyway its not going to be as expensive as some are quoting as I do this out of interest of helping others its P500 per hour which in email terms would probably be 6-10 email replies. You can also book my time per day at P2000+ expenses which includes use of the jeepy.

Anyway enough of the sales pitch and its not because I want to be charging in the first place but three years in and the amount of experience and knowledge I have gathered over that time as well as proactive in building a network of people local and expat it would work in your favour. I don’t have all the answers but I do have a lot of solutions.

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The term “going native” is something that is often mentioned about me because of the fact I am probably one of the most integrated expats here which is also recognised within the local community. The fact of the matter here is there are a lot of scammers out there not only with the women but associated with doing business here or even buying land.

The ladies are generally easy to pick out if they will be “bad apples”. The majority of Filipina’s looking for a foreign husband are good but the percentage of guys that find bad girls is pretty high due to the girls knowing how to manipulate guys and using their best assets. For example girl A. Approaches you all smiles online “i liked your profile” and after a few exchanges she quickly starts to show a bit of breast on webcam and how your the lucky guy she has been waiting for. Girl B. is likely to be waiting for a guy to approach her and more likely to be conservative on her views and asking her to show some breast is likely to be the last time you hear from her. Which girl are you likely to spend more time with? and which girl do you think will manipulate you into everything from sending money to extorting a house and in the worst case sometimes murder.

Its not always so easy to spot online or visiting every couple of months. As often the “local” boyfriend will disappear because they expect your arrival or the girl stops chatting under her aliases online for a few weeks while your home. Truth of the matter is often you don’t really know the girl until you have spent a lot of time with her. But in reality guys arrive here meet the girl of what they think is their dreams and start processing for visas. A recent discussion with someone who mentioned 5 such girls in his block which put a caution sign above trust on a lot of women. The first woman was having internet dating still going on although already married as she recieves allowances from 4 guys via Western Union. Another while they were out as a group went over and asked for a guys cellphone number for a date later that night (she was also already married). Another it was all about the money complaining her play money wasn’t enough at P20,000 a month even though all her expenses were already paid.. maybe not a scammer but certainly someone that will be looking for a divorce to take half of the guys possessions as soon as she is able.

There is a huge list of girls I have learned about over the last few years and how many of the scams and abuses operate. I was out with a friend recently and picked up a load of red flags from his girlfriend he hadn’t noticed. Now don’t think its the end of the world because it isn’t if your not 100% about something get it checked out as its the fact you had something hit the back of your mind that will often be warning you. We can do whatever checking is needed to rest your mind or expose any miss findings. At the same time we will also provide hard evidence to prove our findings. Why choose us? There are several reasons :-

• we can’t be bought or manipulated.
• your buying a service from a competent company that has experience in this type of field of operations.
• Hard evidence will be provided as proof not “hearsay”.
• We can do background checks as well as localised investigations.

The most important factor though is YOU your peace of mind and the fact we work swiftly to resolve the situation.

The next area we cover is “business” I have been here long enough to see people lose money on cooked books, buying something that wasn’t owned by the seller or even money and business partner disappearing overnight. The truth of the matter is there are a lot of rogues in the Philippines and more so amongst Expat’s than any threat to come locally. If your looking at buying a business for  we can assist in researching tax records to see who has paid the tax for the last few years, who owns the building, why people are really selling and more importantly is it worth buying. Getting it wrong isn’t a mistake more often than not its the end of your dreams in the Philippines. Get it right and your security and future will be set for a long time to come.

The mysterious lot?? Recently a neighbour and her Japanese husband bought a lot in Naga City. They spent millions of pesos on it and started construction of their new house. Total investment P9million everything was going well all the papers signed, construction had started and happiness was in the air.. well it was until the real owner of the lot turned up. There are several things they should have done such as videoing the person who sold them the lot. Now they are going through the process of trying to buy the lot twice and no doubt at an inflated price now that the house is nearly finished. Its a very common problem but checking things like tax records to find out who paid the taxes would have led them to the real owner. Discussing things with the Baranghay captain would have also given them an idea of the real owner but also if the price was too much. These are major things that go wrong all the time and we are able to provide several services.. firstly doing checks on the seller to not only check if they have the rightful ownership but also any criminal past, we can also source property lots which will be well below “internet pricing” which is out of control. Be aware for this service your WIFE must be the buyer or you personally MUST be Filipino.

So how much are we? Its a fixed $250 per day + expenses.

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The Philippines offers a lot of positives as well as negatives to someone choosing to live here but the choices you make can either make or break you as well. Me and my wife April are in year 3 which has already surpassed many in their choice of life. Why? because we have a few things that are a bit out of norm to the majority of people arriving. Firstly my wife is well educated and capable of residing in the middle classes even if I hadn’t come along, secondly we are in our 30s six years between us but also my age is half of most people I have met here. Which has a two fold affect in that we have to make an income and at the same time my wife respects the fact that we stand on our own feet. There is no pension, no pot luck everything we do is planned and keeps me awake many nights. At the same time we may ride a rocky road but each positive affect is appreciated as its been earned along the way. For a lot of others its based around pensions and gifts.. if its your pension its YOUR pension and should be careful not to be manipulated into giving it up so easily. A lot of the “hanging on to a young maiden” should be based on a real relationship not just that your little man wants to enjoy the pleasures of a 20 something smiling beauty.

So what is this post about? Its about the fact so many groups sub divide themselves within the Expat community. The fact that we should be working together, the fact that cutting yourself off from the Expat community or even falling into a smaller sub-community is destructive as it removes you from the community not allowing you access to peoples experiences and knowledge but also the community is robbed of your knowledge. So if you do have falling outs with expats remember its more important you work it out than you realise as most people need to help each other along the way or if they dont it could be expensive and more problems than most need. For example even digging footings for a house a backhoe can be P2000 an hour yet an expat might be able to lend you one nearby for a few San Migs.. its about time people severed their differences.. worldwide politics mean nothing here and the fact we are here makes us one people.. “EXPATS”.

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There are few things that really bother me in the Philippines and even this doesn’t bother me too much but it does give me an insight into why some people start scamming. I have met many genuine girls here looking to find a genuine life partner from overseas. Not running a dating agency mind! just people asking “do you have a friend who would like me?” or “its so hard finding a good guy online”. The truth of the matter is a lot of the guys they are meeting online are real dregs of society. Expecting the women to show body parts while the guy sits playing with himself on cam. What has happened to the world? Where did dignity and self-respect go? Where did actually caring about others go? The girls will wait for these guys expecting them to come to the Philippines but lets face it more than likely they are just too tight to even pay for webcam sex shows so try to string people along and no doubt in a lot of cases exchange with other guys their photos etc they manipulated out of the girls under false hopes and dreams. Your probably going to go to the defence of the guys saying they give money right? Well funny enough they aren’t the girls are here looking for partners not an ATM they are wasting salaries on these drop outs.

The reason I brought this article up is very few people jump in defence of the Filipina’s its always how badly the guy has been treated and how he met the wrong woman. I never hear things from Expat’s or Retirees things like the truth “I drink too much” or “I chase other women”. Which have to be two of the most major factors in breakups here. So if you get scammed along the way by someone at least question how they came to be scamming in the first place as it could simply be that they gave up on being abused by guys online and seen it was easier to make money than being fed on false hopes..

Because I know many guys as well who are genuine wonder how heartless some of these women can be as everything they have said and given has been like water off a ducks back to the girls. But maybe this is all part of a cycle for many caused by a lot of these guys who just want a quick hand relief and see nothing more in the women than a means to an end.. just a thought..

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With the recent on goings and my blog entries regarding not only issues within our extended family but also in general it seems to have opened up some floodgates. I have received emails, messages and more importantly not one person has disagreed with things if anything it has been reinstated “we have the same problems!”. There is something else I haven’t covered which is the belief that if you don’t offload your cash or help out relatives for the broken tricycle, sick relative, education, roof leaks etc. You are quickly branded as thrifty and for a partner who is Filipino they are seen as lost to their relatives because she/he has forgotten where they have come from and now they are with a rich foreigner or rich as an OFW they don’t value their family life. Which not only is it emotional blackmail its also misguided anger from the relatives. We didn’t break the roof, the tricycle or anything else. We worked for everything we have got and its a stance people should take more on. Because if your relatives are quick to outcast you because your remittance is late because you have been sick that month in the cold weather of UK for example what do they really think of you? It is not you that has forgotten them it is them that have forgotten you! your not a paycheque your not an education debt that they expect to run and run like selling your soul to the devil so that it will never be repaid in their eyes but financially has been paid many times over. They have forgotten their own kin, your an asset a thing to be used and abused. No longer the son, daughter, niece or nephew. Your the food on the table, the insurance policy the retirement fund.. is that what you want to be?

I don’t mind being outcast and I don’t think a lot of other people do either once they get over the Tampo and stamping around by others at the end of the day a “gift is a gift” if its expected its no longer appreciated. I had something happen earlier in the year regarding people inviting themselves to a free night out which I stopped from happening. Not because I am thrifty or didn’t want them there but the fact is people had decided to abuse my friendship and things had moved from the gift of being invited (which I hadn’t done yet!) to expecting to come and eat and drink us out of house and home…

If any of you ever get round to meeting me you will quickly find im easy going but I won’t be abused by others simply because I know it never stops and in many cases gets worse. If people complain after P1 or P1m why give the million ? the result will be the same!

Before anything gets taken out of context here as I know I seem to have received a lot of extra readers lately to do with something else. Family is paramount to everything in our lives here there may be an obsession believing I am a money grabbing westerner but at the end of the day I can earn a huge salary in comparison to what I earn here in Cebu I came here to build a future for family. If anyone knew me back when I first met April I actually came to Cebu and quit my job to be with my wife.. a joke at the time was I chose to get married instead of buying a Porsche because it was being with my wife that was more important to me as I am not materialistic and I would do the same again.. I just think its important to re-evaluate what they think or think they know as things get so distorted over time I am not talking about us here in Cebu mind as everything that did happen is passed. I am talking about anyone who has done wrong or think others have done wrong to them as often there is more anger involved than common sense.

In Philippines culture there is a lot said about keeping face and if people lose it regardless if they are wrong or not the falling outs will run and run. Me personally I can admit when I am wrong same as I will say when im right. If people want to judge me as something else then let it be as I have no face to lose its irrelevant to our life here. There are more important things to be doing.

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There is something I have experienced not only in the Philippines but throughout the world in the hours after 3am to around 6am which to me are the best hours of each day. There is little people around an almost silence but more importantly you see a lot of beauty that you miss throughout the day normally due to the hussle and bustle of daily life. The photo on the left for example was taken at Cebu Airport at 5.30am when I went to pick someone up the photo itself may appear rather plain but its that simplicity that captures the shapes and light an almost calming within the photo.The second photo was taken at the same location but caught the moon with the early morning sunrise through an open space within the roof design creating a frame. Its these sort of things that are well worth getting up early for because lets face it the hours up until 3pm after the sun comes up fully its really hot! so nothing to stop you sneaking out early to enjoy the local environment then popping back to bed for a few hours when the temperature rises. Should give it a try and if you take any photos please share! I would love to know what you find.

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I have to admit I am not a big fan of charities because of things like corruption and pleading to help the poor in a manor that exploits them very rarely do you hear of a charity that has actually done something that neither needs constant investment or embraces others who get involved as many are simply after the $$$. But I came across Gawad Kalinga which is registered in Germany as a charity and as so is tax deductable and before you think I am asking you to give any money im not this topic is simply about the organisation itself. I came across the youtube video below because of someone’s post on facebook.

Although there seems to be strong ties to religion which is another reason I don’t like many charities as I see it as praying on those who need help the most I do think in the Philippines and the way things seem to have been approached is a reasonable way to get the communities to bond together although would be interesting to see if the same could be done without religious influence.

After cutting through all the negative you start to appreciate the things that I sometimes find are what holds a lot of the Philippines back which are land disputes, poverty and rivalry amongst neighbours/relatives. It also shows a lot of these negatives can be broken for the better of the majority including things like community gardening and harvesting. It’s also good to see some of the major companies getting involved to push home investment and make a lot of these things happen. Although no doubt a lot of it will be written off for tax and not really cost the companies too much if anything at all.. no complaints here anything that is removed from a government tax system and actually put to a good use instead will always get my thumbs up. Just wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with  GK though and would like to add a few comments..

Website :-

http://gawad-kalinga.org/

As I write this article I began researching the original organisers of GK and it reinstates my point why religion is never the right platform for organisations involved in helping the poor. Frank Padilla who is the most prominent figure with CK at that time and originally from Couples for Christ organisation decided it was better to split away from CK and go back to religion. For several reasons firstly being that GK has replaced holiness with "heroism" and winning the world for Christ with "nation-building’. Thus winning souls have been subdued in favour of constructing houses. But isn’t the whole idea of the projects to do with helping people rather than looking for personal gain by forcing religion upon others? The next major stumbling block was that CK started to receive funds from companies regardless of their practices and although you are probably thinking are we talking crime lords here or arms dealers? Nope it falls back to the church yet again with its concern that there maybe companies that may manufacturer or sell contraceptives! It shows how a good idea can be rail wrecked by people not thinking of the poor. It reminds me of a video clip from a movie where someone throws a banana at a starving child which was brought to a charity event in London to show that people were starving inside Ethiopia although the movie was fiction the point was the NGO worker said “I get it, he’s black you want him to dance like a monkey” at which point the boy danced for the banana. The thing was it doesn’t matter where the money comes from our how the project gets completed because at the end of the day the “poor” aren’t so fussy they can’t afford to be.

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There is a constant battle going on that most Filipinos don’t even notice. Its the battle between the Foreigner and the invading ants who constantly want to make home in electronics. The bizarre thing is the same ants don’t seem to be affected by heat either. I often find them wandering around inside the oven when its switched on as if its normal. Another thing we did was bring in some bait traps from the UK. Worked a treat but only to find killing one colony just ended up with another one moving in. Our current invaders actually come from a nest two houses away as I spent a bit of time tracing the trail and adding a bit of poison. It is also surprising how many different colonies there are and different types of ants the larger black ones don’t seem to bother people but the red ones bite,sting or whatever it is they do anytime I come across them. I may seem a bit obsessive but I find them interesting as they will constantly re-route after you poison a trail. Height may seem a solution but a friend of mine has experienced ants in his apartment 4 levels up. Realistically they are part of living in the Philippines they will be here long after I am gone that’s for sure. There is some benefit to having them aswell as they will pretty much wipe out any caterpillars trying to scale your plants.

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The original idea of Tropicalpenpals.com was to get across our life so that others can learn from it but also that others can write about their thoughts and experiences to give a broader view of life in the Philippines.I know many people would not be keen to write an entire blog on a daily basis but there is nothing wrong with submitting an article or two. Could be about what you get upto, how you find the food here or literally anything that involves life in the Philippines. I would also like OFW’s and Filipinos to also write articles as I want Tropicalpenpals to be an un-biast read for the general public. I may write a lot of ramblings about negative things lately but they are all things that are relevant to what is going on. Maybe you can write things that show more positive things. For example the article I wrote about the Tubig (Water) sellers pushing me off the main road after I broke down where as everyone else who had enough money for a horn were beeping it. For me the poorer the people are the more respectful and helpful they seem to be. What do you think? Tropicalpenpals is OUR adventure in the Philippines mine and yours so please feel free to write and you can email me your articles with or without photos to :- mattwilkie@tropicalpenpals.com if you want help with anything just ask..

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