Check out the newest website for beautiful photos of the Philippines. Craig, the owner of this website called Filipino Friend Photo, shows the true beauty of the Philippines, the people, and other interesting aspects of living in the Philippines.

In the future Craig promises a photography contest with cash prizes for readers who submit the best photos of their Philippines experiences and scenery. You can visit this website by clicking on the following link: Filipino Friend Photo.

A sampling of his work can also be found on his Facebook Page

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

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.

I’ll start off by saying our house construction in the Philippines is getting recognizable as what we envisioned when this all began. if you are interested in how it looked before and what the home has progressed to, feel free to visit the photo album I have been keeping. Just click on the following link: Our House Construction in the Philippines

I just wanted to pass along a blog I have been following which I may have mentioned before but I’m not sure. You see when my wife moved to the United States she moved from Israel, although she is a filipina.
She was working there when we met and had worked various places around the world as an OFW. Generally she lived in areas of big cities so when we moved to Virginia Beach it wasn’t that big of an adjustment. When I retired we moved to West Virginia into a smaller city but still a city with not all the comforts of other places we had both been over the years. It took us a little while adjusting to the advantages and disadvantages of being close to everybody and basically being in a place where you were no longer just a face in a crowd. With this new arena we were exposed to other things such as becoming the topic of people’s Sunday dinner conversations, and everyone knowing our every move. Now that may appeal to some people but for me it’s too Mayberryish (made up that word). I appreciate the closeness to family and such, but I am more of a face in the crowd person and enjoy my anonymity.

What this is leading to is the author of the blog I was referring to and his wife, a filipina, seem to live in even a smaller town than we do with all the advantages and disadvantages. Ben and MaryAnn seem to enjoy it where they live and that is fine but as I read I can recognize some of the things that are driving me to get back to the larger cities where I feel I belong. Anyway, the name of Ben’s blog is My2Pesos and you should read this blog to see how an American and Filipina have made their marriage work in small town USA. That’s all I have until next time Salamat Po!

An internet friend Louden recently wrote on his blog Life in the Philippines about a trip to the dentist where he lives in the Philippines. He covered the visit very well and covered the major advantages and disadvantages of getting his work done there. This got me thinking about medical tourism in the Philippines and getting healthcare in the Philippines.

Medical tourism can be defined as when a person travels from their home country to another country for the specific reason of getting medical, dental, and surgical care. More often than not, the medical tourist travels from a more developed country to a lesser developed country due to currency exchange rates. Economic conditions such as a recession also factor into the rate of medical tourism. When an economy is suffering, as the U.S. is experiencing right now, you will see more examples of medical tourism.

Most of the procedures that are performed are done with the latest technology in hospitals and clinics that rival the ones in their own countries. Some of the most common procedures are cosmetic surgery, dermatology, weight loss, and dentistry. One example I’ve read about is knee replacement surgery, which could cost you up to $50,000 in the United States. The price is around $5,000 in the Philippines and this surgery is done by surgeons usually trained at the same place as the U.S. doctors.

My wife and I have not needed any major surgery lately but since we spend time between the U.S. and Philippines we try to schedule our dental and optometry visits when we are in the Philippines. Not only are the check- ups much cheaper but our eyeglasses are half the price that we can get them for, even at the discount eyecarewebsites.

Medical tourism in Asia is on the rise with countries such as Thailand and Singapore trying to lure the medical tourists to their own countries but the Philippines is still considered the best due to their facilities. Check out the various websites that are specifically targeted towards medical tourism for more information.

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.