I am on the way to Dumaguete!
Posted on October 4, 2005
Filed Under Living in the Philippines |
10/01/05 07:03:51 PM
Guys I am sitting here at the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas waiting on Flight 107 to Manila. Checking in was not so bad, I was surprised and the security was breeze too. I guess I was fortunate everything went pretty smooth today.
Now let me update you on what has happened since we last visited. I managed to buy my ticket round trip good for a year, for $1695. I checked out many of the Internet sites and i was not impressed I am glad that I made the call to my trusted friend Jin at Air Asia Travel. He not only gave me a good price but he also answered many questions about customs both here and in Philippines.
Next on the agenda was to secure a home. My girlfriend found a great deal for us too. I gave her a budget of 5000 pesos per month. She found a 5 bedroom 3 bath house fenced in yard in a subdivision. For some reason subdivisions area big deal to live i there I don’t know why.
She is not buying curtains,, gas stove, bedding and etc….and now the wait is on! The excitement in her voice is so sweet and actually melts my heart when I hear her talk she is actually giddy. And i will let you in on a secret I am too!
Now let me sum this up for you. 5000 pesos is about 93 US dollars. And I don’t expect to spend more much more than that to get started. I need a bed, fan, cooking utensils and a few other things.
They are calling for the boarding now let me go and wish me luck.
10/01/05 10:47:30 PM
Wow I am so doggone tired. I woke up today at 3am and have not been to sleep yet. I am in the transit area of the Vancouver international Airport. And from there I will be traveling on to Manila.
I met Derek from Pinkbike.com. Derek was cool he just spent about 5 days in Las Vegas at a mountain bike convention. I thought those guys would be meeting in the mountains doing all those gnarly drops and spins on their bikes. But I guess not.
Actually Derek told me that the first 2 days was all about displaying their talents on the trials. These guys are the guys that drop off of cliffs and hit the ground running ( Well sometimes, that is there objective i guess many times they just hit the ground!) Any way he was a cool fun loving guy with a great smile and greeting for anyone. I don’t think this man ever met a stranger in his life.
Derek Rock on Dude!
As for me now I am tired and getting a headache. I know you did not come here to listen to me complain. So I will share some more of the master plan for living in the Philippines for a year.
When living in Philippines you need to , as you do anywhere, be vigilant on your budget. You can easily get caught up in the cheapness of everything and spend to much. Paul Petrea of Living in Cebu tells us that the most common mistake is to think “well it’s only a dollar” mentality. And i agree I know i made that mistake but not for long.
I realized that pesos spend just like dollars and it is all relative. You will learn what I mean as we progress into this blog.
I plan on spending about 1500 pesos per week on groceries. I will start off with less as a budget to see what I can buy for my money. And I will crank it up as needed.
I will close for now and get ready for a long long flight. I don’t know how I can get ready for it but I will. I guess mentally I just need to prepare I suggest, actually to my self a this moment to sleep!
Until then mabuhay,
Don
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5 Responses to “I am on the way to Dumaguete!”
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wow, i just read ur blog. it’s past a year ago since you posted this. just wondered how was ur stay here in the phils. my bf is in l.a. and he’s coming home this christmas. i cant wait =)
Hello Posh,
my stay in Dumaguete was wonderful I met a lot of nice people there and hope to return soon.
Are u from Dumaguete?
I know ur anxiously waiting ur mahal and I’m sure he misses you too..
Don
Glad you enjoyed your stay. Unfortunately, I am not able to take a year and live over there. Currently, I’m working on getting my sweetheart from Dumaguete over here instead. I’m sure there will be opportunity to visit once she is here, though work will likely prohibit any lengthy stays.
I arrived at this page from the search engine, but I assume you have written much about your experiences since you posted this. Thanks for sharing!
I’ll probably retire to Dumaguete…..a great place to live.
Good to see you here, “Dumaguete Webster”. I think we are in agreement that this place has a charm of its own. A world away from the homes we know, but at times a much more hospitable place.