My Move to the Philippines

Let me start this post off by saying I am not an expert on Philippines internet so if you have any corrections or suggestions I am willing to listen. A couple of years ago when I visited the Philippines I noticed a change in internet in the Philippines. Many people were moving away from the internet cafes and getting more personal computers in their homes and businesses. At that time I wasn’t fully involved with an internet business as I am now so I had little to judge about the chances of working a business on the internet in that country. I was more concerned with being able to check my email daily and I accomplished that by going to the internet cafe.

These days I am self employed and work online at least 8 hours a day so it was important that the last trip provided me with the knowledge I needed to set up my operations there. I did as much research as I could before I went, soI had a little idea on what to expect by talking with my niece who lives next store to me in Laguna. She assured me that she had wireless service and I could connect on to her network from my home. After I arrived in January it took me a couple  days or so to connect because of nothing more than not having the right password for her router. Before I figured the correct password I decided to purchase my own connection so I wouldn’t lose too much business time.

Smart Communications had a booth in the local mall and I inquired about their services and options and found I had three options. Option 1 Pre-Paid Wireless where I could purchase a flash drive type device for P1,000 ($20 US). This device is similar to the go anywhere internet many wireless companies offer. It used 3G technology and could be used anywhere that a signal could be reached. You had to prepay by buying a load much like the cell phones in the Philippines. You get about one hour for P20 with automatically a P300 credit. After that you can buy time just like on the cell phones but don’t let it run out of time completely or you will have to pay the thousand pesos again. This was the option I chose simply for the reason that the other two involved a wait for approval and a contract for a year. Since I wasn’t going to be there for a year straight it seemed the best. One of the other options was unlimited minutes and I think it cost P1,000 per month with a contract involved.

The speed of the prepaid wireless left something to be desired as I think the maximum I achived was 54Mbps compared to 130Mbps -140Mbps I curently am running  here in the states. But all in all not too bad unless you wanted to watch a video or look at a picture. I took this internet device as far back as you can go in the Philippines while staying in Pangasinan and it was patchy at best, but so wasn’t cell phone service.

When I move to the Philippines for good I will have a cable wireless connection like I have here. I connected to my neighbors wireless when possible and found that connection to be very close to the speed I experience in the U.S. Feel free to comment on your experiences with your Philippines internet connection because as I’ve stated I am not an expert and I really only dealt with one company.

 Ok, so I’m back in the states now and I’m having withdrawl symptoms. Withdrawl from a very special pilipino food and one of the staples of my diet while in the Philippines: pandesal or pan de sal especially from Pan De Manila. I would have it with coffee in the morning, as marienda in the afternoon and a pre bedtime snack.

Pic from wikpedia

For all of you who don’t know what pandesal is I’ll let you know that it is a round bread made of flour, eggs, lard, yeast, sugar, and salt and eaten by most Filipinos and Americans living in the Philippines. I checked up a little on the history of pandesal and found that it was introduced to the Philippines in 16th century and came from Portugal. It started out as just a plain roll eaten for breakfast but has transformed into a sweeter and richer type of bread.

There are arguments over where you can find the best recipe for pandesal and who makes the best. My personal favorite is as mentioned prior from Pan De Manila a franchise that is popping up all around the Metro Manila area especially in shopping malls. What I heard is unique about Pan De Manila is they bake their pan de sal in the traditional brick oven. All I know is if I’m in Pavilion Mall I stop and get some pandesal there along with their peanut butter. It beats any mall food you can get.

Whether you get your favorite from the local bakery or from places like Pan de Manila, hot pandesal is one of the jewels of Pilipino food and something you must try if you are visiting.

As many of you know from reading this blog that I am a fan of Filipino music whether it be stars like Charice singing Celine Dion songs or her own to Arnel Pineda singing with Journey but my favorites are  Original Pinoy Music (OPM) aka original pilipino music.

Recently, I became aware of a show called Pinoy’s Got Talent or Philippines Got Talent or something of the sort so I sit down to watch it. From watching many good singers in my years in the Philippines I have to admit the show’s talent did not live up to what I expected. It seemed that 90% of the talent on there was just out to show themselves on TV and were more comedy than serious artists. In all fairness I see the same thing when I watch Americas Got Talent but at least in Americas Got talent there are a few like Fil-Am Thia Megia who really belong on the big stage. Also in fairness I’m not a regular viewer of the Filipino Show so I might have caught it on a bad night. I’ll try to watch some later shows and give it a fair chance but I hope it doesn’t end like my first experience.

And speaking of Arnel Pineda it seems some people including the Philippine’s National Historic Institute have a problem with Arnel’s version of “Lupang Hinirang” prior to the start of the Pacquiao-Clottey bout in Texas last weekend. Seems he didn’t sing it as written and I guess there is a law saying you must sing it exactly as written. To read more about this subject go to the Manila Bulletin’s article: NHI to make formal objection against Pineda; prosecutors ready to act

And finally since we are on the subject of Filipino Talent. I’d like to share a video I made while in Macaleeng Pangasinan during the recent town’s Fiesta. These guys are the true OPM talent!

One of my favorite songs in church when I was growing up was a song called Jesus Loves the Little Children. The song starts out as Jesus Loves the Little Children All the Children of the World. When singing that song as a child I really didn’t comprehend what the line “All the Children of the World’ really meant. But when I visited the Philippines many years ago and saw children actually searching through the garbage at the Subic Naval Base that song came to my mind and at that time I developed a love and caring attitude for the children of the Philippines.

As a young sailor I had many favorite street kids that I would make sure had something to eat everyday. I didn’t give them much money straight out because I wasn’t sure that the money would be used for their benefit so instead I tried to make their day a little better and was always rewarded with a smile. It seems to me that no matter how hard the kids had it they were a happy and fun bunch to be around.

These days I have more than enough children in the Philippines to occupy my time as I have tons of nieces and nephews in the province and in Manila where I stay. Although my nieces and nephews to who I am affectionately known as Lolo Dan are not in as bad shape as the street kids I once helped I still spend lots of time with them just having fun.

 I do have a few children in the province that aren’t related to me that I treat as my own family and I try to take care of some of the simple needs that their parents cannot provide. One is a little girl who passes my house every morning on the way to school and waves and says hi to me. Her name is Mary Grace and I found out she was the youngest of 6 born to a mother and father who have no jobs and feed their kids by getting fish from the sea. I bought Grace some school supplies and I make sure she has a small snack to take with her to school every day. She says thank you and gives me that toothless smile that many 5 and six years worldwide have. That alone is enough to make my day.

I’m not telling this story to brag about helping the kids or to bring any glory to myself but to stress if you are planning as an American on moving to the Philippines, find a way to become part of the community and the lives of Filipino people rather than hide away somewhere doing nothing all day. For me, it’s done by spending time with the children and learning from them. Yea I do learn from them!

It seems like not long ago a young girl named Charice Pempengco from the Philippines shot on to the International stage first on starting on Little Big Star then Korean TV and appearances on Oprah and Madison Square Garden with Celine. I have just watched the latest video Pyramid featuring singer Iyaz and really enjoyed it thanks to my friend Thia Megia, another great Filipino singer.

Anyway I’ve added the YouTube video below for your enjoyment and links to other songs you can get on Amazon.com. As we have from the beginning we will follow whats going on with Charice and try to keep it updated here

Today Feb 22, 2010 is a national holiday here in the Philippines. Since there was no school I used this as a chance to bond more with my nieces and took them to the swimming pool. It was also a chance for them to practice their English and me to practice my Tagalog .

EDSA day is celebrated on the closest Monday to February 25th. It is to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution which has become an important part of Filipino history. It was a time when the people of the Philippines took political matters into their own hands and worked towards ousting a President who many felt was abusing his power. On February 22nd President Marcos conceded the Presidency of the Philippines to Corazon Aquino and fled to the United States.

On February 25th Aquino was sworn in as the new President and a new constitution was in the beginning stages of being formed. The new constitution was ratified on February 2nd 1987. Although I am not a voter and would rather not get involved in Filipino politics, I am a student of world history and realize the importance of this day in the Philippines.

Good books on the subject:
From Marcos to Aquino: Local Perspectives on Political Transition in the Philippines

Corazon Aquino: The Story of a Revolution

 So glad to report that this week we have arrived in the Philippines. Not a complete move but working towards someday doing just that. We have spent the first few days just adjusting to the time difference and visiting with friends we haven’t seen since last year.

I have been to Jollibee and Chow King, my fave places to eat, a couple of times already and it seems that there are more Starbucks here than anywhere I’ve ever been. Aside from that I’m finally figuring out the Internet Providers and prices. I’ve already been to Mall of Asia, Manila Bay, and Market Market and will share pics with you guys when I get them uploaded.

A strange occurance is the amount of Americans I’ve seen here this year. Although I’ve only been away for a year the amount of foreigners I have encountered in our little suburb of Manila suprises me. I have seen many younger Americans in the malls and places I’ve been. I guess the secret is out!

If you follow me on twitter you know I have been comparing the weather in the Philippines with the weather here in West Virginia. Mainly because it is so freaking cold and snowy in West Virginia right now and so nice in the Philippines and I will be flying into Manila in 20 days.

I am not a lover of snow or cold weather and can’t wait till I am staying the beautiful climate of the Philippines the majority of the time. Just in case you want to know the temperature in West Virginia right now is 20F and feels like 12F. In Manila it is 79F and feels like 83F so I ask you WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING HERE?

My wife had inherited some land in Pangasinan close to Hundred Islands so we decided to build a second home for the family when we visit the Province. Check the following link for pictures of the hoouse in progress.

Our House in Hundred Islands

Yes we are catching up with the Philippines here in the U.S. I heard my first Christmas music of the year in the Mall today and I think we are starting to get in the mood. Actually, I have to admit the first Christmas music I heard this year was on a Merry Go Round at the local amusement park in July. Can’t figure that one out maybe they were trying to keep us thinking of cool weather.

Another sign I saw of Christmas is the lines for the popular toys this year. Went by ToysRus this morning and saw a line outside. Then I saw a sign on the door that said one Zhu Zhu Pet per customer and I knew why. If you don’t know about these toys yet they are the Cabbage Patch Kids of 2009. If you are too young to know about that there is usually one hot toy that sells out every year and this year it is the Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster. I think they make too few of a toy like this every year on purpose.

Other than that, my wife and I are working on getting ready for our trip to the Philippines in January which I hope will come soon. I really miss our home and family and friends there and plan on spending lots of time catching up. Hopefully the storm season will be over soon and the Philippines can get back to normal but it may take awhile.