We all know that when you move from one place to another you encounter changes, it’s just a way of life. Even more so when you move from one country to another such as moving to the Philippines from the States. Some say changes is good while others say change is bad so we’ll just say that change is fifty fifty. Some changes I encounter with a move to the Philippines are listed below. Feel free to comment and add other changes you have experienced or expect to experience when moving to the Philippines from your home country.

1) Transportation-I seem to walk more in the Philippines than in the States even though I love riding trikes and jeeps. The reason I walk so much more is a matter of my location much more than any economical or cultural reasons. Our home in Laguna is so close to everything that the only time we ride is areas quite a distance from our home. A five-ten minute walk will get us to the supermarket, coffee shop, shopping mall, and anything else you could want in a city. As far as when we are in the Province,after we arrive it’s relaxing on the beach with a swim or walking over to the Sari Sari to get some San Mig.

2) Eating-In the Philippines we eat very little processed food or fast food as there are too many kinds of fresh seafood, fruits, and vegetables to waste eating french fries or pizza. Now, I still have to have my Zagu drink now and then but that’s about it.

3) Sleeping- No matter if we are in the Province or the city I just get sleepier earlier in the evening and wake up much earlier in the morning. Haven’t figured out why but I do. I still have marathon overnight computer work sessions but those are few and far between.

Well folks that is a small sampling of the changes I have when living in the Philippines vice the United States but I am eager to hear some of the changes you all have experienced, so comment please!

Since I spend a good part of my time in the Province of Pangasinan when I found this website entitled “The Official Website of the Province of Pangasinan and It’s People” I was very pleased. I don’t know who built this website for the Province but as a lover of website design as an art I am impressed. Find everything you want to know about Pangasinan by visiting the website below:

The Official Website of the Province of Pangasinan and It’s People

Hi everybody. Just wanted to let you know that I am still around and nothing has changed much in my plans. Right now other obligations are keeping me really busy and I’ll try to update more often. In the meantime here are a couple of pics of our upgrade to the Pangasinan house. For more pics check out the albums in my Facebook account which can be accessed by clicking on the badge to the right.

As you probably know from reading this blog that I spend about half my time in Pangasinan and half in Laguna when I’m in the Philippines. It wasn’t until my latest couple of trips to Pangasinan did I actually stray out from Macaleeng Anda where our house is. But the latest trip there I promised to get out and see a little of the area where my wife grew up.

According to wikipedia

“The name Pangasinan means “land of salt” or “place of salt-making”; it is derived from the root word asin, meaning “salt” in thePangasinan language and other related languages. The province is a major producer of salt in the Philippines. ”

Because of this I just had to see what I could find out about the salt industry around the area I stay, and my brother-in-law Dickie Caracas and his friends voluntered to show me the salt making plant near our home. Now when I hear a plant or factory in the States I imagine a bunch of buildings with machinery to build or produce something. This plant was far different with very few buildings and all the work done outside.

From what I understood the process of getting the salt starts early in the morning. Salt water from the ocean is funneled into small areas to contained it. the water is left until late afternoon where it actually evaporates and leaves very little water but much salt at the bottom. The salt is scrapped from the bottom of the area and put into baskets where it is dried and then piled alongside the road where the trucks come along and bag the salt and pay for it while loading. That is the 5 cent version of what I observed and you may get a better idea by visiting my photo album of the trip by clicking on:

Visit to a Salt Factory in Pangasinan

Was enjoying my coffee at the McDonalds in SM Sucat the other morning and came across an article in the Manila Bulletin that was kind of interesting. On a side note, I don’t usually have McDonalds coffee but I’m also not familiar with the coffee shops in this mall. Usually I am at SM Sta Rosa or Mall of Asia where I know the Starbucks or other shops. Anyway, the article deals with how Delta Airlines is trying to break back into the Asia market after suffering and recovering from financial difficuties. The airline is going to upgrade their seats and entertainment facilities to make the ride more comfortable for the passengers. They feel these moves will give them a foot in the door of the Asia market.

Sorry Delta, you still haven’t got a chance from my prospective. I wrote a post about this previously in this blog and basically complained that the problem with U.S. airlines are the attitudes and customer service provided. I wondered how the Aisan airlines like Philippine Airlines, China Air, and JAL had such fresh young faces who seemed eager to help every step of the way through your journey to Asia.

One of the comments I received I think hit the problem on the head. First off, many of the countries in Asia are very youth oriented probably because of a younger population vice the aging U.S. population. It’s a fact that the United States is becoming older due to such things as birth control and the rise in abortions. If you are living in the U.S. I’d advise you take a trip to another country (Mexico or Canada don’t count) and you will see this for yourself.

My friend who commented says that since the U.S. airlines started feeling financial difficulties they had to start laying off employees. Of course since they are unionized seniority rules so the younger employees with less time are let go and the older employees are kept. What that generally leaves you with are employees who are pushing their forties or fifties and are generally burnt out and are tired. You can tell the difference when you are served either at a ticket check in or by a flight attendent. Your food is basically thrown at you on the U.S. flights and if you might ask for something extra like a glass of water, you may get it or not. Oh, and if your seat is not in the upright position at the right time expect to get a good tongue lashing on the U.S. line and smiling assist on the Asian line.

Have you ever noticed how there have been some attendant/passenger confrontations on U.S. flights for such things as not turning off an ipod or cell phone. Haven’t heard much about that on the Asian flights.

So my suggestion to Delta or any other airline trying to break in to the Asian market, take a flight on one of the home airlines like the ones I’ve listed above and maybe you will see how the competition makes it in one of the most profitable regions for air flight.

Just wanted to say we are back in the Philippines and had a very enjoyable trip over. We just missed the snow on the East Coast of the United States and the weather here is delightful. I have never experienced such cool breezy weather this time of year in the Philippines. I guess global warming forgot to make a stop here.

We are currently preparing to shop for kitchen appliances to finish our Laguna home and I can’t wait to visit Pavillion Mall and SM Sta Rosa. Keep up to date on our photo albums of our life here by checking Facebook. Our info is located on the sidebar to the right of this post.

Well 2011 is finally here, actually it’s been here for a week now, but it seems like when I post on this column I’m on Filipino time. And yes, with this New Year there still are Americans living in the Philippines I’m sure of that. I have been getting numerous comments and emails from Filipinos and Americans assuring me that they are either in the Philippines or will be moving to the Philippines soon.

I missed celebrating Christmas and New Years in the Philippines this year because I’m here in the states but I will be there by the end of this month. I am so excited and even though I missed two of the most important holidays I will be returning in time to celebrate Fiesta in Pangasinan. I really love the way Filipinos celebrate important holidays. There are so many good times and time to be with friends and relatives, unlike the commercialism in many other parts of the world.

As I start this year on the blog I’d like to throw a question out there especially for Americans living/moving to the Philippines: Why have you chosen the Philippines to live/move? I’m asking because many people have began asking me this lately and if possible I try to refer them to my very first post when I started this blog/website: “I Shall Return” Although the timing has changed a little bit since I first wrote that, everything else is the same and I believe it is very informative. If you get a chance and haven’t done so, please read this post and the others after it, you will get the reasons. Maybe you can use this post and the blog to answer your own friends/relatives questions.

Just got back from celebrating Christmas with the family. My family in the United States and in the Philippines are both big families so Christmas is always a festive holiday no matter where we celebrate. The only difference usually is that one place there is snow and the other there is sand.

Anyway I just want to thank all the loyal readers of My Move to the Philippines blog for all of your support and comments throughout the year. I don’t do this website for commercial reasons and to tell you the truth if I didn’t get as many visitors and comments I might have given up on this blog completely. I promise you that many more things will be happening in the next month and in the near future as our permanent move to the Philippines is completed. Stay tuned and enjoy the trip as I will. Please keep the comments coming and once again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Although it’s a small part of our house construction in the Philippines, a subject that comes up often is our kitchen cabinets. I’ve written posts on what type of material we should use and sizes of our cabinets also. What I’d ask you as readers of this blog is to look at the picture in this post or on my Facebook album and tell me what you think about what we did with the cabinet underneath the sink.

Many of the readers on here are Filipino and more familiar with Philippine home construction and I respect your opinions on things we are doing. Do you think the dish rack type underneath the sink is a good idea and have you seen this in other homes? If you don’t think it is a good idea please tell me why, and I’ll say I will welcome constructive criticism but not destructive criticism.  So the comments are open on this subject and we are probably not going to change what we’ve done but would love to know what problems with this type of cabinet we can expect.

To my friends and family in the Philippines see you real soon

I have been a fan of social media sites for awhile. I started off with MySpace and then got into Twitter, Friendster, and over the last year or more, Facebook. I have met many new friends and connected with old friends that I had lost touch with long ago. These friends are scattered all over the world and many I probably wouldn’t have got in touch with had it not been for social media sites.

Not all of the contacts I have made have been just a real person but groups of people and sites about things I am interested in. As I am planning my move to the Philippines I have come across some interesting businesses and informational pages as well, including one that I visit with everyday. It’s a Facebook page for a site called Definitely Filipino. This site describes itself as “The Blog for Online Filipinos“.

Not being Filipino, but interested in many things Filipino, I visit this site to see what is happening in the Philippines and topics involving the Philippines. It covers such things as Philippine culture, economy, living, and news, among other things. It is basically a non biased view of what is happening to Filipinos with a chance for them to interact through their Facebook page.

Ben Totanes, the creator of Definitely Filipino, says on the about page for this blog that the philisophy behind this Page is that “It’s the place to come, learn, interact and belong….” My favorite feature of Definitely Filipino is the identification of many famous people that I didn’t know were of Filipino descent. Did you know that Tim Lincecum who pitched a winning game in this years World Series is the son of Filipina Rebecca Asis? I didn’t until I read it on Definitely Filipino. They cover many other movie stars, athletes, and famous people who share Filipino heritage.

I suggest you go to their Facebook page and add them plus check out their blog for daily updates and keep up with what is going on with Filipinos worldwide. You may learn things you didn’t know or just get updated on current events or maybe interact with some interesting people.