This answer is very simple we hold no information back not only do we tell it like it is but will happily add any other links to ours and infact if you want to run your own website within ours your welcome to we will create a sub domain that will belong to "You" only advice I will give is that it cant be anything that is related to the sex industry,child abuse or internet dating. Not because of what my opinions are but quite simpy I dont want any problems with the Authorities in any countries. But if you want to develop a charity website, a skydivers sports group or a farming association etc all these types of sites are welcome. Aswell as personal sites or pages. Maybe you want to share your experiences in the forum and your welcome to have your own section in there. Or maybe taking some photos of the Philippines you want to share or family photos these can easily be added to the photo area. The thing for me is that this should be a community not a business.
There are other reasons this works. We dont do it for personal gain although we will happily add a business website for a donation can be as little as a couple of dollars. For a year these will be used to keep the site running.
Honesty is the best policy. You will find information we give is as accurate a picture we can give and if a restaurant for example gets a review its happy with or maybe not they are always welcome to put what they think or the reasons things happend on that visit that way. Same as another Expat or visitor to the Philippines can also post a review.
Why do we do this? As you trawl round the net people are hording information and not linking it to each other freely reasons are several from not wanting you as a traveller finding multiple businesses doing the same thing as the site you have visited. Maybe wanting to keep you the customer using their site and forums only or maybe other reasons. But the point is you arent my customer I hope you will be a friend and associate and I offer all my information freely on this site except for some of our ebooks which is purely down to paying for mine and my wifes time. If you choose to donate then your welcome to but the main thing im concerned about is you having a great holiday or a new life that at least lives upto your expectations. Reasons behind it all is just quite simply I arrived in the Philippines to meet my fiancee with bits of information but was still ill prepared for most things. This gap I want to fill with knowledge not only does it help you but it encourages more people to visit the Philippines and this in turn helps the people of the Philippines and thats what matters most to me. Cebu is my home..
The Affiliates and links you no doubt have noticed a stack of advertisements appearing down the side of the page. They are mainly of site links and services I think you will find useful. If your in the UK I strongly advise getting your wife/girlfriend to use skype and getting yourself a SKYPE mobile. You will quickly see your high mobile bills almost disappear due to the Skype moblie operating as a 3 mobile and Skype phone at the same time. Allowing you to stay in contact with your loved one in the Philippines or wherever in the world and she/he can get you 24hrs a day by ringing your phone via your Skype name. One its on it operates like a normal phone and will ring with incoming calls and messages. A smart piece of equipment. The other ones are pretty self explanitory but for those who dont know SULIT, ADPOST or ISTORYA they are all sales sites offering you goods and services with the Philippines. I thought I should add them so you can have a look for price comparisons of items or maybe your girlfriend/wife is after something. But either way I hope it helps.
What we are presently aiming for is building up this site to a single resource site where you can use it as a Single bookmark and find it useful for information aswell as offering a comprehensive list of sites and businesses around the Philippines and your welcome to leave reviews of services on the Forum good and bad so that everyone is aware what to expect and anything bad I will make a point of contacting the business concerned to find out the reasons why this action/things happend. Either way I just want you to have fun and save some money at the same time!
I have noticed that the Forum is very quiet you may think you have little to offer to others regarding the Philippines but you will be suprised on what you know. Is there a restaurant that shines out against the others? What was the moment that made you think I love it here! or I love her/him all this info myself and others would love to hear and share. We are a community and you are part of the community that now exists. Even things such as how to deal with overstays at airports or the best Airline youve flown with and why.. All these bits of information give the new traveller information that will help them enjoy their stay more and not feel so isolated. Aswell as the fact that they will have a bit more knowledge when they head for the Airport. I cant write it all because I dont know it all. But I also want feedback and experiences because I would love to know about the people I am alongside here at Tropicalpenpals.
Our Projects this is a new area within our site. Its basically what we are currently working on. Presently a Piggery, Lot clearance and beginning August a couple of houses being built. You will have to keep an eye on the page as I get updates they will be added. So for those of you interested in a small business or building a home. The page will give some valuable information.
The Cost Of calls the big expense you will find over time is generally all the calls especially if your away from the net alot. I find even text messages can run up a hefty bill over a month. So how do you save money?? Well there are phonecards which offer better rates than BT or other companies offering phone services.
Advantages of these is you cant go over your budget once its gone its gone.But I would strongly recommend keeping a note of the cards you buy so that you can monitor your spending.
The option ive recently moved to is SKYPE mobile which is basically a mobile phone you top up with £10.00 per month (which is for general use) in return you get free use of skype services. Which basically means that you can use your mobile for free to call your gf/wife on her headset (or skype PC Phone). Sounds too good to be true? Well there is one drawback thats bugging me and thats the phone itself. It cost £49.99 including the £10 top up but the phone is so cheap. If you put the headset on plugging it in or taking out the back slips off the phone. The buttons are too close together for my construction sized hands. Which generally means pressing the wrong buttons at least 3 times a day. Ok sounds like a bad review?
Well taking all that into account would i buy it again? answer definitly anything that can keep me in contact with my wife 24/7 is worth its weight in gold and at £10 a month its a steal..
The other feature it does have on the Phone i forgot to meantion is MSN messenger for free too. Although I do find this is a bit bugged. Sometimes it wont log you in and people I deal with on the net have said it makes messenger on their machine do odd things too. But it works just takes a bit of messing around sometimes to get it to kick into life. Nothing more than a Little TLC and CPR at times.
Doing some good there is a charity project currently in the development stages which will be added later. But one area that could help people around you is teaching English as a second language. Especially if your looking to live out of the cities where education is out of the reach of many.Teaching someone english can give them the chance to develop into jobs they wouldnt normally be able to approach such as call centres etc. Suprising how a day a week could change peoples lives around you.
The other side of the coin is that getting your TEFL diploma can help you get work if you choose to in the Philippines although dont expect high salary. But with the influx of Koreans seeking education there are often vacancies. Aswell as the ability to use your qualifications for other countries such as Malaysia or China.
Become an English Teacher in just 2 or 3 days. Courses from £150. Nationwide.
SPACE IN YOUR LUGGAGE?
How many times have you travelled and realised half the stuff you brought with you wasnt needed? Maybe packing your luggage you have realised there isnt enough room for the stuff you bought on holiday to bring back and have to leave things behind??
Well an idea ive come up with is something that will help children in the Philippines aswell as get rid of your excess. Most people these days wonder where charity money goes and what is done with it.
So how can you make a difference without it costing you a penny? the answer kids stuff you will be surprised at how much stuff you have in your home or relatives which hasnt been used for years clothing kids have grown out of or some small toys. Everything is valuable to someone with nothing. So all im asking is if you have a bit of excess space in your luggage that you normally fill with clothes you never wear fill it with stuff kids can wear im going to sort a drop off point in Cebu for the items. But please at least think about this because you arent only helping children your clearing excess difference is you can see where the items are going and the smiles it will bring to kids faces. Even if you dont do this via us do it off your own bat and make a little difference to a big problem. You will make kids happy and also find that you have room in your luggage for loading up on route home.
A big thanks for at least thinking about this :) for more info please email me at matt_wilkie@hotmail.co.uk
Sending items to the Philippines
one of the easiest ways to send items to the Philippines is via Balikbayan boxes. This is basically sending boxed items back to the Philippines on a door collection and a door delivery service. This also helps get round the issues that occur when a "Kano" is noticed at customs and suddenly there are extra charges for something they wouldnt normally bother with. The other side of it is that its a good service (for what it was designed for) to get items back home for families who need food parcels etc. The ones above ive added here as examples but there are other companies out there and TNT will do a door to do service too. Just do a comparison on prices to see who offers the best deals.
The price the Philippines pays for a U.S. friend..
this is a site written by another expat from a forum group i use. Explaining his view on the Philippines and colonial effects on the country. Its well written and informative. Worth a read.
http://www.chrispforr.net/row2/chrisphil7/...neocolonial.htm
Our Projects
This is the latest area within our site sharing information on what we are upto and its developments over time. Please feel free to visit and your welcome to ask any questions.
So whats it like being away from your wife?
There is no easy answer to such a question but only defined by one word "difficult". The last 4 months have been some of the hardest ive faced in a life-time. Dealing with some guilt of not being at my my wifes side during the labour of Zoey in March
Aswell as difficulty finding work at first on arrival in the UK which sort of worked out well because we had time to spend with each other. But I was minus a laptop and luckily my dad let me use his PC and I purchased a laptop within weeks of starting work before he grew tired of someone in his chair.
I missed the birthday of my wife April and our first as man and wife. Although when i said missed doesnt mean i forgot i was just out the country. We have had to deal with increased expenses and some unexpected. Having a daughter is so different to the UK. We pick up the tab on everything out in Cebu. From a doctors consultation to vaccines and even the delivery costs. How the average family can absorb bills of P50k+ in the first few months of having a child in the Philippines is beyond me.
We have also had to absorb some unexpected conflicts within the family. A house we built within the family compound is now subject to rent. Which seems strange to me as we were in the process of redeveloping the main house as it is under used and could easily be used as accomodation rental for nursing students due to being nearby a hospital. But we have pulled the plug on that project and several others. I was hoping to help increase the families income and once we moved to the house on the hill even the house we were living in would be available for the family to rent out. But I was hoping to have built another 2 properties in the Compound and revamped the main house after discussions with Aprils family. But now a lot of the trust has gone and are options and priorities have changed.
The last few months have shown experiences and problems which have adjusted our plans but we are still happy and still here. We will work through this although our help and discussions with friends and family will be restricted to a need to know. In reflection i dont know where we went wrong as everything was designed in helping everyone in mind but the $ got in the way. Talking about matters with other friends its a common issue and one that I for once in my life am speechless on how to amend. Bridges burned stay burned for life.
But where are we now? well we are both in a grey area treading water until we are back together. Some doubts appeared after these issues which will be easily amended once i return home in August. The house will still be built. The piggery will soon be functioning. On a whole we are doing ok and a lot better than some of our neighbours so i can never grumble. Im just looking forward to getting home and April is looking forward to me being back. Will be great to actually see and hold Zoey for the first time and start looking at how we are going to layout the house. I miss my wife a lot even though we are constantly in touch and we are both counting the days until i can go home.
Back in Cebu
Its always great to back in Cebu even with the busy roads, a lot of recent headaches there is nothing quite like being back where you belong. We took a ride out yesterday to Naga and this is where these photos are taken. One thing i find odd is the number of developments that are
going on that seem to be in a time capsule. Everytime you got passed nothing has happend in months. But things are left as if there are people coming back tomorrow. I know in the UK if you left a site open like some of these someone would guarantee to have a drunken event on the site then sue because you left it accessible.
We also purchased a new vehicle which in the UK is called a pickup but here its a Multicab. Which is basically a small suzuki pickup. This ones engine although I havent looked at would base around 600cc. With 2 and 4 wheel drive.
There are very few disadvantages to this vehicle in the Provinces or even the citys of the Philippines because quite simply its adaptable to most uses. Carrying people on the back is pretty normal and ive seen some of these vehicles with as many as 10 - 20 people on the back. The tailgate is removable or drop down allowing for loading of materials aswell as an adaptable cage we will be fitting later to allow for transportation of pigs to and from markets etc. Its taken more knocks than frank bruno and like him its still standing. The gearing is low which is ideal for these roads as most of them have pot holes and if they dont the bad driving will guarantee to keep you below 50mph anyway unless you want to take a trip to a funeral home.
Ive got a couple of new pages im adding to the blog today so maybe worth a visit to see how things are developing.
Donations
There has been an increase lately in the number of people who wanted to make donations to the site to help us keep it hosted aswell as looking to upgrade the software we currently use. So what ive done is create a Paypal donation button but for anyone who doesnt like the fees (I know i dont) you can send a cheque directly or donate when you see me. Its not a compulsary donation and infact its not something ive even asked from people. Its been requested due to the online help here, on the forums and by direct help within Cebu that people have found useful and not available elsewhere.
Getting your stuff out to the Philippines
this is a current issue im dealing with and its an expensive one. One strong bit of advice is get it Door to Door to avoid any problems with customs expecting palms to be greased otherwise you may end up out of pocket or losing some of your goods. Ive added a few companies that deal with sending via sea-freight as its the cheapest option aswell as they deal from boxes to containers.
You may be pleasantly surprised or shocked on prices so quite simply im not going to put a price guide here you are better to approach each supplier and get quotes and compare as individual needs dictate there is no easy answer.
Reclaiming TAX
One of my pet hates at the moment is the British goverment and its missuse of my funds. So anything I can do to help get me or you money back from them I will do. Firstly you could do it yourself and this link gives you the bands that you may fall into for a tax rebate :- HM Customs
Doing the work yourself you will need to download the form P85 and send it in to your tax office this form is on the same link as above.
Or if your like me who often struggle for the time you can use an agent to deal with it all for you.
Happy hunting.. the agencies will take a commission but its upto you if you do it yourself or leave it to people who do this on a regular basis.
We are a family based in the Philippines im Matt a British Engineer currently working back in the UK for a few months while I restock the bank and a few of our projects get off the ground in RP. My beautiful Filipina wife is April also a graduate Engineer and we live in Minglanilla Cebu. 
