My Move to the Philippines

I would like to thank all of my readers for helping me push my followers on Twitter to over 1,000 this weekend. I know that many of you follow me to keep up with progress on my move to the Philippines and I am grateful. If you don’t know what twitter is I would describe it as a social network where you can make a short post of 140 characters telling people what you are doing. I post alot throughout the day and all followers are alerted to a new post on this blog automatically as soon as it is posted. This way you don’t have to manually go to my website everytime you want to see if there is new content, just check out your twitter account, it’s much easier. I am listed as dan1658 on twitter but if you’d like to follow me just click here. I promise to follow you also and keep up to date with what is going on in your life too.

I’m also on the favorite social website in the Philippines Friendster my user name is Daniel Mihaliak and it is the same on Facebook. I wanted to mention that the subscribers to this website has been climbing also and if you’d like to subscribe to this website just click here it’s free of charge. Once again THANK YOU to my many twitter followers and subscribers. I hope that I can provide some helpful and entertaining information for your enjoyment.

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 started this blog I wasn’t sure of what direction I was going in. To let thousands if not millions of strangers to view personal details of my life was not all that attractive to me. I was shooting more for sharing what I learned in the process of preparing for my move from the US to the Phillipines. I think I am accomplishing that but recently I have been learning so much more about the Philippines than I have been teaching. I think it comes with studying the various sites concerning Americans living in the Philippines. I don’t intend to make this a site where I just recommend websites and blogs for my readers to go to but I have just been finding so many great ones I have to share them with you. I fully intend in the future to tell more of my story if it interests you but today I am going to recommend another site that really needs mentioning. And to the web master of this site Ken: Thank You! I have been on your site all morning and I am now hours behind in my writing! LOL!

As you all know from reading my previous posts I am retired US military, spent a few years in the Philippines, fell in love with a filipina and the country, moved back to the states, and now am moving back to the Philippines. My story is not so uncommon that I can’t find numerous blogs/websites of people in the same situation. Recently I have come upon a website run by Ken Rice and his wife Prelia. The name of the site is Welcome to Ken and Prelia’s Virtual World and right now Ken and Prelia are living the life which I will be living soon. They spend about half of the year in the Philippines and half the year in the States. And you probably know thats what I plan on doing for a few years until I get older and then I’ll be staying in the Philippines year round.

Ken’s site is a little unique in that it is more graphic than text based. Of course there are the About Us pages and their story but what jumps out at you is the many photos and videos from the present and the past. I found links to old photos and videos of Angeles City to videos of the Mall of Asia, one of my favorite places to visit. There is also a link to a Philippine run travel agency Mabunga Travel International  which I plan on utilizing real soon. So please visit Ken and Prelia’s site and let them and me know what you think. Their site is Ken and Prelia’s Virtual World.