As I continue this series of posts on sites that have helped me learn about the Philippines I have noticed one thing. Filipinos are very proud of their heritage and the fact that they are from the Philippines. When you Google Philippines or Filipino you come up with results about the beauty of the Philippines and sites such as ”proud to be a filipino” . When you are proud of something you usually show it off and thats why it is so easy to find websites on the Philippines.

Photos of the Philippines

As I said in the previous paragraph when you are proud of something you show it off and there are many photo blogs/sites with not only Filipinos but foreigners displaying pictures of the Philipppines. My favorites include Philippines Daily Photos where everyday there is a high resolution photo published about something in the Philippines. These pics are easy to look at and I spend maybe too much time going over them every day.  Admire Philippines is a site that not only recommends places to travel in the Philippines but also shows beautiful pictures of the location. This site was developed by someone with vast knowledge of the Philippines. There are literally thousands of sites online with pictures of the Philippines but I just wanted to showcase a couple that I try to visit frequently.

Philippine’s History

One of the sites I visit when I am seeking knowledge of Filipino History is History Thata’s Daily Blog. Although this site covers much more than Filipino History it does contain a great deal of helpful posts on things Filipino. Another site I visit which is much more specific is Only The Best-Cebu, Philippines. This site is more about Cebu than the whole country of the Philippines but the author is well versed in historical facts and sites. If you plan on visitng Cebu for sightseeing please check out this website. And last on this list is Philippines History which is a great site for people that are history buffs like me.

So that is all for Part III of the Learning About the Philippines posts. Stay tuned for more posts on my favorite sites to visit.

In my previous post I mentioned a guy who I thought went about Moving to the Philippines the wrong way and wished him luck in his journey. Well it seems that he is back in the Philippines and this time adjusting well. He now has a blog that shows his adjustment and follows such items as Americans adjusting to Philippine toilets, food, beggars, and other interesting subjects. His site has many good photos and videos of life in the Philippines. Please take a look at his site and if you feel like it leave him a comment welcoming him to the Philippines. His site is American Life in the Philippines.

I write this blog for many different reasons. I hope that people who are in my situation considering moving to the Philippines realize this has been a journey that was started over 30 years ago. I have lived in the Philippines previously for almost 10 years. I have been married twice to filipinas and I visit every year on vacation once or twice. Moving there is not something I just decided to do a year ago without thinking it through. The reason I bring this up is I received a comment on a recent post from a guy who I assumed had made the move or was thinking about it. What I didn’t realize was the guy had made the move and like so many it didn’t work out and now I believe he is in the states away from the girl he married in the Philippines trying to work and support her. I think he is trying to go back but I haven’t read into it that much yet since he has just started the blog. In my opinion this guy went about it  wrong and his lack of preparation put him in the situation he is in now. Fortunetly I have mentors such as Bob Martin to guide me through my move. Bob you couldn’t possibly realize how much you’ve helped. One thing Bob warns people to do is go over and visit for awhile with no intentions of staying and live native and see if you really want to do this. Again in my opinion this man who commented didn’t do this and in fact had never been to the Philippines previous to his move. Dude, you know who you are, I don’t want to call you out and I feel so sorry and hope you have learned from your experience and I wish you luck in what ever you decide to do. Hopefully someday we can sit down and have a drink together in Manila.

When you travel or move from one country to another culture plays a big part in how your move or visit will go. It is best to read any material that gives examples and warnings about what you will experience and how some things should be handled. That is why I am a daily visitor to what I consider to be the top site on such issues. My friend Bob Martin’s site Live in the Philippines will cover everything you would want to know if you are an American moving to the Philippines. It covers everything from family relationships to handling money to learning the language and more. Want to know about Filipino food, this site covers it along with banking, places to travel and Philippine politics. Bob is a published author of books such as 49 Ways to Earn a Living In the Philippines and Retire Like a King which explain how to not only live a good life in the Philippines but start a business. I have been using 49 Ways since it was published to set up my business I will be doing after the move. There are also other authors on this site that give different perspectives of life in the Philippines. A few of them are not Americans so if you are from a different country than the US you may find an author from your country.

Another site that assists ex-pats moving to the Philippines is Untwisted Vortex. Run by R.T. Cunningham, a retired US Marine, this site not only addresses the transition of a move from the US to the Philippines, it also has some very good ideas on making money from a blog. Like the previous site I recommended Untwisted Vortex talks about cultural differences and places to visit in the Philippines. I can relate to R.T.’s experiences because like him I got my first taste of the Philippines through the US military.

Ken and Prelia’s Virtual World is another of my regularly visited sites. Webmaster Ken Rice has put together a very informative site about the Philippines. I don’t believe this couple lives full time in the Philippines but spend a good part there and the rest of the year in the US. My wife and I will probably do the same for the first few years so we can spend time with our grown up kids and our Grandkids. But after the first few years we will be spending more time in the Philippines and less time in the US. One of the highlights of Ken and Prelia’s site are the photos and videos of the Philippines especially Clark Air Base in the 80’s and 90’s. Angeles City was one of my old stomping grounds in the days of my youth and I have spent literally hours viewing the photos and videos on this site.

 Check this blog in the coming days as Part III will cover other sites that have helped me learn about the Philippines.

When I was young many years ago and attending grade school History was my favorite subject. Not only were the stories of America’s heroes and villans of interest, but also the story of how America was founded and how her culture had developed. Along with this I enjoyed looking at pictures of different parts of the United States and hoping to someday visit many of them.

As many readers of this blog know I grew up and joined the US Navy and fulfilled many of my dreams of not only traveling around the United States but around the world. I have visited almost all of the US states plus 30 different countries. Along the way I found a place that I enjoyed much more than any other and that is the Philippines. As I prepare for my move to the Philippines I now need to become familiar with the  Philippines  and the culture. Of course the internet is the main tool I have been using in my search for knowledge.

What I will share with you in this post and the next is some of the websites I have been visiting, many daily, and some weekly. I will provide links to these sites and some of them have been linked here before but in the context of this post they will be mentioned again. There will be sites mentioned that talk about the differences in culture and sites about of course, my favorite subject food, as well as sites that show the true beauty of the Philippines through photographs. I hope you can use the sites mentioned for knowledge or just enjoyment or maybe if you are curious of what I do all day.