Expat Basic Training: Living in The Philippines
If living in the Philippines sounds like a possible choice for you, this is information you need. It doesn’t matter where you get it, you do need the information. Philippines Experience: Basic Expat Training is the first in what I hope will be a series of ebooks that I will release. I just hope it doesn’t take me as long to write the next one. It might, I may have put too much information in this one.
Buy it or Learn More!
Can you find a good woman in the Philippines, you sure can. Can you find the worst nightmare of your life, yes you can. Can the Philippines be a tropical paradise? Yes, but its not heaven there are thorns in the roses.
In future books, I may include a lot of information from my websites but for this I didn’t. There are a about two pages of the 30 plus page book that were taken from the website. Most of it is all unpublished material. It is designed to cover the essentials of what you need to know about living in the Philippines. There is a lot of information intended to help you stay out of trouble. Do you know that is not uncommon for a mother to be sitting next to a daughter at an internet cafe telling her what to say to an interested foreigner? Its not uncommon, though I have not witnessed it, my Filipina girlfriend has. Why is it important? Their only purpose is to relieve you of money.
Some scam warnings one can find regarding the Philippines are scams themselves. Often overstated and far less common than websites would have you think. Once you are here and meet Filipina one on one, you’ll find most of them to be good honest people.
Can you find a good woman in the Philippines, you sure can. Can you find the worst nightmare of your life, yes you can. Can the Philippines be a tropical paradise? Yes, but its not heaven there are thorns in the roses. If you come to the Philippines and act like an American you could easily get yourself into trouble. Raising your voice to a Filipino is reason enough to be blacklisted and deported! These are the kinds of things you need to know. These are the kinds of things covered in this book but there are more than 127 30 pages of this kind of information.
I’ve been living in Cebu Philippines now for more than two years. I wish I had had this information, I would have moved to the Philippines sooner. To find out more information about this book, including a list of chapters, please visit Philippines Experience, Basic Expat Training.
Tagged with: Cebu Experience • eBook • Expats • Living In The Philippines
Filed under: American Expats In the Philippines • Expats Living in Cebu • Living in Cebu • Living In The Philippines
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why cebu?
why not palawan or boracay or surigao?
Palawan = violence and kidnapping
Boracay = expensive
Surigao = expensive
Cebu not perfect but I cant live in all places at all times. I must admit that all the places you mention have awesome things about them.
Cebu City is the second largest in the Philippines, international airport, one of the largest malls in the world, more of the conveniences of “home” but once you get out in the province, none of the conveniences. If I want a cigar, I have to go 80 miles to get it. Crazy? LOL Life in a jungle.
Plus the girl I knew said, “lets go to Cebu.”
Hey
How do I get this book? I am having a hard time figuring your system out to order it.
Also Jessica, the lady that does the Visa extensions for expats can’t connect. Do this blog only work with IE and not firefox?
greg
Hey greg, Something is broke. Hold on, i’ll fix it for you.
Greg, at the bottom of this page http://cebuexperience.com/move-philippines/what-potential-expats-should-know-about-the-philippines/
there is a button …..
Click on ADD TO CART
The page will load again. Then just below that button there will be a paypal button.
I know that’s too complicated. I’m working on fixing that. Sorry you had trouble.
Do you have paypal? if so, i can send you a buy button in email.
I replied to your email too.
Hey Greg,
I got your payment! Thanks much!
Your book is on the way via email. If yo don’t have it or have any problem opening it.
Let me know. We’ll get it worked out.
Yup, answered my own question. To respond here you must be using Internet Explorer.
Hey Rusty I like this blog.
I wrote a hundred women all over the world starting in 1996. I met a filipina who I corresponded with for 6 yrs. (I was burned/wiped out by a american exwife). I visited her in 2004 and proposed, she came to the US in 2005 and we got married. I love her, if a tiger was chasing her my only thought would be how to get between her and the tiger.
Questions:
How do I get your book about living in the Phil. ? (not about how to get money).
I now know how to message Jessica about legging the visa extensions,
Have a good one.
Greg
Oh okay I didn’t understand what you mean about visa extension. Duh, I must not be awake or hung over or some thng. Oh wait, I didn’t drink last night. LOL
You shouldn’t have to use IE. I have not opened IE in years but what you just told me makes me understand others are having a problem too.
I need to make it easier. I will work to do that RIGHT NOW.
Wow, there is some one at the wheel. I am suprised to actually get a response, thanks alot Rusty. I am sorry to have fired so many questions, I am not on filipino time, yet.
I bought your book cause knowledge is a tool. I have been trying to relocated the article on your site that discussed Jessi taking a persons passport into town to get a 60 day extension for a fee. I wondered if she was a “fixer”. When I got my Philippine drivers license in Cebu there where a lot of signs informing citizens not to use fixers anymore because of their fees were higher than the actual fee for what you were applying for. I did write down her phone number though but was not able to email her. Do you have her email? With the new longer Visa extensions would you reccomend obtaining the extensions yourself?
Here you go:
http://cebuexperience.com/living-in-the-philippines/cebu-experince-living-in-the-philippines/#comment-3931
There is a link at the top of the site that reads “extension service” too.
I wanted to get you that link first, now I will answer more.
Fixer’s are often doing illegal things. The signs I saw were warning about them were not about higher prices but of fraud. They take your money and give you illegal documents that are not worth anything if someone looks into them.
I ran into one that was willing to take me to the places I needed to go to do the things I needed, like drug testing and such but after she told me all that, i decided I didn’t need to drive that bad. LOL Those long lines when I went were crazy, no way I can stay in the heat that long, I’d have to go to the hospital if I did.
I will send Jessie’s email to you via email. Can’t post that on a website. The spammers will grab it and email her till her mailbox is full!
What Jessie is offering is intended to be a time and head ache saver. I have always used an agent myself. I use to use one in Cebu City but now I use Jessie. I have not seen the inside of a BI office since the last time I left the country And I went then because they had to finger print me for my exit clearance. Jessie does have contacts within BI but you can do it yourself. If you live where I do, its a 2 to 3 hour bus ride back to the city. That’s why I don’t go. I’ve not been to Cebu City since I returned from Thailand last May.
That is also when I left the country. What she offers is saving you the trouble of going to BI, waiting at BI and dealing with government officials. They’ve always been very nice to me. They are so formal though. Feels like walking into a police station and for an old hippy like me, that’s still scary. LOL
She is not what I think of when I hear the word fixer. If its broke, she can’t fix it. lol
I think fixers skirt or flat out break the law. 
So you’ve been in the Philippines before then. I’m a little confused. Where are you now.
I thought you were still in the states. No? You’re here? If your in the area we need to meet for BBQ!
I am in Arizona right now. I built a home on Cebu on the way to Toledo in 2003-4. My nanay & tatay live on the ground floor and we have a duplicate layout on the second floor for when we are there. I was there last Aug-Sept-Oct for a visit, got my drivers license and a 125 honda. Yea, a BBQ is on the list Rusty.
That sounds very nice Greg. I am only able to rent. For now…
You built something, very cool. I have a friend that is living here now, he wants something with “real windows.” My friend bleeds money on his Filipina friends and so uptight over a few pennies of escaped aircon.
Oh well, I guess the friends are worth it in the end.
I’ve been up all night. Going to go to bed, or try.