If alcohol becomes a scourge

“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long on the wine, those who go in search of mixed wines? Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. … They have struck me, but I was not hurt; they have beaten me, but I didn’t feel it. When shall I awoke, that I may seek another drink?” (Proverbs 23:29-35).

The writer of this Proverb expressed very well the effect of alcohol.

Have you noticed already how cheap is any kind of alcohol in the Philippines compared to our home countries? Well, well… .

Alcohol is a depressant. It slows down the function of all the body’s parts. Vital functions can be slowed down to the point of death. Under its influence people choke to death at family picnics, drown at the beach, fall asleep while driving a car, hurt and even kill other people.

The devil alcohol creates a feeling of freedom without worries and euphoria. Our feelings are free flowing. Everyday worries are replaced with a carefree spirit. Wow, I really feel top today…!

I myself join the circle of other fellows around, more or less regular social drinking, habitual drinking with meals (beer or wine!). When I stayed in France, I couldn’t believe that for many Frenchmen a breakfast consists of bread (baguette), cheese, coffee - and red wine! Where are the borderlines of social drinking?

Once we reach the addictive stage we are already in danger. Gulping drinks and secret drinking daily to relieve stress makes one lose control and being unable to stop drinking create drinking habits. Danger is with us if we lose control over when, where and how much we drink. We loose our self-respect and the performance of our work is seriously affected. Loss of interests in everything (except in drinking) means loss of job, conflicts with the law, loss of friends, mental deterioration even death…

I still remember one of my best colleagues friend in Germany, who was not able to stop drinking even after several alcoholism cures and months of treatments in centres for alcoholic and drug addicts. Unintentional but thoughtless acceptance of drinking made him a victim of alcohol. Even herbal medicines sometimes contain alcohol - a terrible sentence. I spare myself the trouble to explain to how, how my friend died… .

Every time I enjoy a drink in acceptable measurements I try asking myself: Am I drinking too heavily? Do I sneak drinks? do i want to drink because of frustrations or problems or just because the world is so nice and pink tinted and life is so wonderful in the Philippines?

During this week a Filipina widow asked me to assist her for the widow pension application. Her (expat) husband died. Reason: Alcoholism because of frustrations…

Reminder for foreigners living here

Just wanted to make a quick reminder to any foreigners who are living in the Philippines with any kind of Resident Visa.  You must go to the Bureau of Immigration and complete your annual check in any time during January or February.

If you do not complete your check-in before the end of February, you will be illegal here, your Visa no longer in force.  After February, you can still go to the Bureau and Check In, but you will need to pay a fine at that point.  It is not a huge fine, but much better to complete your check in within the prescribed time and remain legal!

While this procedure applies to permanent residents, foreigners who hold Resident Visas and Special Retirement Visas, it is a good idea for any person who is staying here to check the status of their visa.  If you are here on a tourist visa, you are required to go and renew that before your first 21 days in-country are completed, and thereafter you must renew it every 59 days.  Remember the dates that you need to renew to avoid penalties, and potential trouble.  If you were to get caught over-staying you will face penalties, even the possibility of not being welcome to return to the Philippines in the future.

I have yet to check-in, but I will be doing so sometime in February.  Maybe I’ll see you at the Bureau of Immigration office?

Can the carabao be a cure for Global Warming?

Yes, you read the title correctly! I am wondering if the Carabao can be at least a part of a way to resolve Global Warming, and I am not joking! I recently read an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer which told of a scientist who believes that he can use the carabao to alleviate Global Warming!

How, you ask? Well, it is somewhat complicated. But, you see, the carabao can eat almost anything. It has “rumen fluid” in it’s stomac, which contains organisms that can things like rice stubble into biofuels! You know the stubble that covers a piece of rice? It is a tough substance that generally cannot be eaten. When rice farmers harvest their crops, you will see piles of that chafe out in the fields, and later after the stubble has dried, it will be burned. However, scientist Fiorello Abenes says that this chafe can be turned to biofuel by the digestive enzymes of a carabao, and that this substance can be turned into a biofuel as it is digested!

Dr. Abanes, who has been a scientist in the USA in previous years but is returning to the Philippines, has theorized about this, and taken it a step further! His theories were recently tested, and confirmed by the Philippine Carabao Center. Abanes is no fake either, he received his doctorate degree at the University of Connecticut in 1975. He went on to work as a regional swine specialist in Alberta, Canada. He also worked at the Dairy Training and Research Institute, which is part of the Food and Agriculture Organization in the USA. After this, he went on to work CalPoly Pomona University in California.

So, Dr. Abanes’ procedure would be to take waste products, like the stubble of rice and mix carabao rumen fluid with it to produce the fuel. After this step, yeast would be added to complete the process.

This method is quite timely too, because last year the Philippines’ passed a new law dealing with using crops to create biofuel. Early this year, though, and expert from abroad came to the Philippines and said that making biofuel was not a suitable target for the Philippines to pursue. The reason? The Philippines already has shortages in food (mainly rice), and using the food to create fuel will only leave more of a food shortage, forcing food to be imported. This expert said that there would be no economic gain from the biofuel production.

Now, however, if Dr. Abanes can really perfect his process, biofuel can be created from an agricultural waste product! This would leave food for the people, and fuel as a byproduct. If this would work, it would be an ingenious idea, and an idea who’s time has come!

Yes, I’d love to see the carabao become a hero for it’s ability to aid in the Global Warming crisis!

Meeting with visitors

One thing that I enjoy about this site (and my others) is that people who are regular readers seem to be always coming to Davao City!  And, my practice is that when they come, I am happy to meet them, sit down for a cup of coffee or lunch with them, and get to know each other.  I really enjoy it.

Believe it or not, this has really gotten to be a very regular thing!  Just two weeks ago, I met blog readers every weekday, that’s right, on Monday through Friday, every day!  On Friday I even met two different blog readers (one for breakfast and one for lunch).  So, you can imagine, it keeps me busy, and keeps me meeting new people!

The other day, I met Frank Fealey.  Anybody who  reads the comments on this site certainly recognize the name, as Frank is a really regular commenter.  I had originally met Frank last year, and this was our second time to get together.  It was a really enjoyable time, and great coffee to boot!  We enjoyed coffee at Apo View Hotel this time.

If you are interested in keeping up with the people that I meet during their visit, I have a photo album showing most of my meetings with readers.  Every now and then I forget to get a photo, but I remember most of the time.  Stop by and have a look!

If you are going to be in Davao, why not contact me and let me know!  Unless my schedule is really booked up, I’ll be happy to meet you when you come!

Winter in the Philippines?

It should be now as I learned from other Philippinos and expats? Mmh, this reminds me of several comments (and complains) of different expats, who really miss winter here in the Philippines. At my first glance, I thought, they are just kidding.

I am staying in the Philippines now since more then nine years and I must confess, I have never ever miss the winter with snow and ice and “bad road conditions”.

How about you? Do you miss such stuff? Or do you try “to heal this desire” in going back to your home country, which provides you now with real winter elements???

A few words about Podcasts

Well, over the weekend, I put up my first Podcast on the site! Actually, it was my first Podcast on any of my sites! About 2 or 3 years ago, I was a guest on a US based Podcast, but somebody else put that all together, all I did was talk! Anyway, I have been thinking about the Podcast over the weekend, and I have a few things that I want to share with everybody.

I mentioned on the Podcast that I would be accepting phone calls over Skype from anybody who wanted to participate. Basically, for any reader of the site, if you have any questions related to our topic here (Living in the Philippines), you can call me on Skype and I will do my best to give a good answer to your question. The Skype call will be recorded, and it will be part of the Podcast on a future edition. Please understand, if you call my on Skype, you are giving permission for the call to be recorded, and played on the Podcast.

Because I need to schedule my time, I will not accept calls of this nature at any hour of the day or night. I will have pre-scheduled times when you can call in with your questions or comments for the Podcast. Starting immediately, I will offer two times per week when you may call me:

I will accept calls on Monday mornings, Philippine time between 6:00 am and 8:00 am. This would be equivalent to Sunday night, 10 pm until Midnight, Greenwich Mean Time. This would also be equivalent to Sunday Afternoon, 5 pm to 7 pm Eastern Standard Time in the USA (6 pm to 8 pm during Daylight Savings Time).

The second time of the week when I will accept calls will be on Friday afternoons, Philippine time from 3 pm until 5 pm. This would be equivalent to Friday morning, 7 am until 9 am Greenwich Mean Time. This would also be equivalent to Friday morning, 2 am until 4 am Eastern Standard Time in the USA (1 am until 3 am during Daylight Savings Time).

If you want to call me during those times, simply use Skype, and make a call to “mindanaobob“. If you do not have Skype, it is available for nearly any Operating System available, and can be downloaded at Skype. Calling over Skype will be free, since we would both be Skype Users.

In addition, I will be setting up a different place on this site for the Podcasts. Just like right now, we have a separate place for Videos, I will set up a different place for Podcasts. On the Home Page of this site, there will be a box toward the bottom of the page for Podcasts, listing the most recent Podcasts, and across the links on the top of the page, just look for the one that says “Podcasts.” So, to re-iterate, Podcasts will not be a regular part of THIS COLUMN in the future, but they will have their own Column on the site.

It is my goal to do one podcast per week here, so keep your eyes out for that! If you have questions on the procedure to call in, about listening, or whatever, please contact me!

Wedding Gowns!

When Bob and I got married over 17 years ago. We purchased my wedding gown in a small department store in General Santos City. At that time there were no malls in General Santos yet. Prior to our wedding I came home to Gen San to visit my parents from studying college in Cebu City. A few days after my visit me and my sister went to the city to shop. Inside the store we saw the gown in the mannequin that really caught our attention. My sister told me that the gown was really perfect for my size. I just gave my sister a quick smile. Bob and I already knew each other then. So then when time that we are going to get married, when we shop for my dress and we went to that store again and the wedding gown was still there. My sister then told me that the dress was really meant for me.

Anyway, right around the time that Bob and I are getting married his brother in the States and his fiance are getting married. They also went shopping for wedding gowns right around the time that we are shopping. Bob’s sister-in-law ordered the dress and they ordered like 6 months prior to the wedding. It cost them like $3000-$4000. I was shocked when Bob and his mom told me the price. Her dress we found out later was ordered and made in the Philippines. My brother-in-law was shocked when he found out the price of my gown. It was just $80. My wedding gown is not badly made. Honestly its similar to my sister-in-law’s dress. For the money, I think it was really worth it. Plus Bob and I are still together.

Nowadays the wedding gowns cost a lot more, of course. I think before you can dress up the whole entourage for less than 10 thousand pesos. Now I think it will cost almost 40 thousand. Anyway, its nothing to be scared about guys. They also offered now rental of gowns and barong for the whole entourage. There are lots of wedding shops here in the Philippines. Just have some quotes from a lot of them, and choose what really soothes you.

Have fun shopping!

Cebu air we will get you there

One of the things we all have to  do when living in this great  country is adapt, thus we can enjoy the life and not die from a heart attack caused by frustration.

Now I took great advise from Bob that was just aim to get one thing done a day, anything above that is going to be a huge bonus, hes so right. Now knowing that and remembering there is NO POINT in losing your temper I thought I would spend a couple of minutes telling you about my attempts to book and fly on CEBU AIR.

I booked a flight to DAVAO to BANGKOK return online and when I got to the end I was unable to make a payment as most European and USA credit cards can not be used …something to  do with fraud I think.

So off i went with my print out to DAVAO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, to pay my booking. After going around the car park a few times and slipping by the armed guards to get to the CEBU office I got to the counter and said I like to pay for my ticket.

The pleasant young man at the counter advised me that this is a ticket to BANGKOK, for which i replied yes.

He said this office only deals with domestic flights!!

Now remember I am at an international airport at an office of CEBU AIR all connected by computers to be told that they cannot take my booking or monies,well with my friend we just looked at each other and burst into laughter, to the point the  man behind the counter was looking a little upset.Not wanting to offend him i explained why i was laughing and he smiled too and said that was the company policy he had no idea why and sent me to a shopping mall a few KM away.

Now with my booking I proceeded to the shopping mall who accepted the booking and charged me several thousand more pesos as it was for extra taxes and add ons ,I reluctantly agreed and handed over my credit card to be told cash only please.

Well off i went to the ATM go the cash and came back.

That small job took me over two hours to achieve, Bob you are so right one thing a day only or I will go mad.

Does religion makes one religious?

Since I live in the Philippines as an expat, I observed innumerable religion directions. Tune in your cable TV and experience almost 15 different channels (and directions) only here in Davao City.

Religion - the belief in supernatural power, which governs universe; religion - the recognition of God as an object of worship; religion - the system of faith and worship; religion - usually expressed in conduct and ritually…. .

Does religion really makes one religious?

I attended a church service long time ago. I never forgot the preaching.

It’s easy to recognize someone, who loves to eat junk food for example and doesn’t care about his or her health: a fat body is mostly the result of an unhealthy life style. I said MOSTLY, because I don’t ever want to talk anybody belonging to my surroundings.

Next: it’s easier to recognize someone, who loves to consume alcoholic beverages without limits at all: a drunk and dizzy mind will be an “easy’ mind. Yes guys, alcohol is so very cheap in the Philippines… .

It’s easy to recognize someone, who loves to read rubbish literature, (only?) yellow press publications, or, who loves watching embarassing televisions (you remember one of my first write ups IDIOTIC TV?).

It’s easy to recognize someone, who loves “to consume religion” while attending mass every Sunday (or any daily service), who loves to pray the rosary or just pray for good health and luck in business, and - who loves to attend innumerable religious activities within a week. Of course, nothing wrong with this.

I don’t know how to put it, but you, my dear readers, ought to know, how painful it is, to recognize such people later,who will be the first fervently cheating their neighbours, friends, partners, employees, employers or colleagues.

Does religion really makes one religious? Of course, many times it doesn’t! Not the making of sheep’s eyes at us and curry favor with us and allegedly religious fellow creatures are welcome - no, we should prefer such people, who might attend mass, pray regulary AND live a characteristic Christian life - no matter which religious faith and believe one belongs too.

Religious freedom and our won creed as believer show the real reliable and credible person in our daily lifes, who lives here on earth a Christian life and who doesn’t need (improper, not binding and dishonorable) religions to show us an unshakeable and unbelievable religious character while cheating his or her surroundings after a hurry up AMEN of the last prayer.

Banking in the Philippines

OK, I have set up a new home for Podcasts on the site, and all future Live in the Philippines podcasts will be found here in this area of the site! Since I published my first podcast in my regular column, I will leave it there, but will also add a duplicate copy here, so that for future reference, all podcasts can be found here.

Remember, this is just my first attempt at Podcasting, so it is not perfect by any means. But, it is not too bad, and future Podcasts will improve!

For today, our topic on the Podcast is banking in the Philippines, and I am joined in the discussion by my friend, Dave Starr.

To listen, just click on the gray button below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download