ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
PhilippinesWorried about MEDICAL!
My fiance and I went to Manila early to avoid this potential problem. We got there 3 days before her normal start date. When asking the medical questions she got confused about her dates and they refused her vaccinations. Just be very clear to them you are on a normal schedule. Since her medical she has passed the interview, recieved her visa and got her CFO sticker. I am going to get her in July and now I have concerns about her POE because of no vaccinations even though its technically not a requirement. We have contacted SLEC many times to try and resolve this, but they still refuse to give them. It really stinks because I already payed for the vacs. I guess before we leave I will go by there again and see if I can pay again to have them done there in the RP so we can eliminate any chance of problems at her POE.
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-21 22:51:00
Philippinesinterview passed today
Congrats!!!
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-11 13:45:00
Philippinesneed help
I believe its called Chantix? A friend of mine here in the USA quit smoking using this pill and he was a heavy smoker for almost 30 years. It didn't make him any crazier then he already is laughing.gif I just woke up from a deep sleep to smoke a cigarette so I know what you are going through. I started smoking a few years back in the RP because I had a real bad smokeless tobacco problem and it wasn't readily available there in the RP. I was so addicted to Copenhagen snuff that I would get physically sick if I didn't have any. Now I am fighting both habits. I dropped by my local country Texas doctors office last week to ask about Chantix but he was out makeing house calls. I plan to go see him later this week and I will ask for substitutes or generics that also might be available there in the RP. I will send you a PM if learn anything.

I know someone else who quit a few years back using a drug called Zye-ban.

Good luck.

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-29 01:36:00
PhilippinesProof of bonafide relationship
His phone bill will show times and dates when you called him. Tell him to print these out online or keep the bills he gets in the mail. He can then highlight with a marker the times that you called or vice versa.

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-02 22:13:00
Philippinesanyone experience open brown envelope


I cant resist but sorry if i will ask this.why would anyone open "The Envelope" when it has a warning on the envelope itself 'says "do not open" and another sheet of paper in big letters that says "WARNING ...DO NOT OPEN.So i guessed nobody has experience opening that envelope.is there?
[/quote]

I can see where it is possible it could get opened accidently. My fiance and I have a house together there in the RP and its like Grand Central Station for all the neices and nephews. They are very Maldito sometimes. I told my fiance to make sure she puts all our documents including her visa in a very secure location away from these little knuckleheads, so no accidents take place.



Itz the allure of doing something forbidden. Pot smoking won't be fun anymore when they legalize it.
[/quote]

As a former teenager, I can almost guarantee no matter what they do to Mary Jane, she will all ways be fun! rofl.gif

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-04 17:04:00
PhilippinesFast Way to Send money to Fiance in Philippines?
QUOTE (DouglasFiel @ Jun 19 2009, 10:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (JANETandLYLE @ Jun 19 2009, 12:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
What's the fastest way to send money to the Philippines without costing an expensive service charge? Any idea's? Can I fed ex to the hotel or her home some money form? just an idea... can i go to my usa bank and have it wired to a phil bank?


I travel internationally for business all over the world... I find the best way to get cash,, Is the use of ATMs.

For my wife, I set up an extra checking accouint (in my name) with ETrade bank.
Just use a bank that doesn't kill you on ATM fees and exchange rates.

With ETrade I get the international bank to bank rate and no fees.

I just transfer the money online into her account from mine. She can get the money in 2 minutes.

Note: I put the ATM card in between a couple of pieces of thin card board and wrote on the outside, Pictures please don't bend.
Just to make sure it arrived...

Regards,


I agree, I did this about a year ago and its been one of my better decisions. I created a Visa/debit card in my fiances name off of a U.S. business banking account. I can transfer money online to this account in minutes. We farm rice in the RP and this has come in real handy when something unexpected comes up. Also if its a visa/debit/check card, the fiance can use it directly where visa is accepted without going to an ATM. Also you can put limits on these type cards in case it gets stolen or someone tries to use the numbers. RP reciepts have the full Visa account number displayed on them. (drives me crazy!)

Good luck.

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-19 21:03:00
PhilippinesDiamond ring
QUOTE (mariquita linda @ Jul 7 2009, 11:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (TripleG @ Jul 7 2009, 09:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Kugeng is sporting a $40 dollar Walmart special as her engagement ring. She is tickled pink with it. It was never an issue at her interview. Wasn't even brought up by the CO.

Wyatt


A blue light special from K-mart might suffice, ain't it, huh, Wyatt? star_smile.gif



Yep! For 2 reasons. First one being, I didn't want any possible harm to come to her over a peice of jewlry. (she doesn't live in sophisticated Makati), and the 2nd reason being its just a symbol and regardless of its value the symbol is the same. When I asked her what she wanted for a ring? She simply stated nothing to expensive she would rather we spend the money on premium breeding pig. I sure do love that woman! I definately met my match. yes.gif

If she would have said she wanted a 1.5 karat, VS1 clarity, color E or above pincess cut diamond mounted in a platinum setting, then thats what she would have gotten. I knew before I asked her to marry me, that thats not how she rolls. good.gif
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-07 12:22:00
PhilippinesDiamond ring
Kugeng is sporting a $40 dollar Walmart special as her engagement ring. She is tickled pink with it. It was never an issue at her interview. Wasn't even brought up by the CO.

Wyatt
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-07 08:07:00
Philippines129F processing time for Vermont Center
The website said the exact same thing during our waiting period, but we got the NOA2 in almost exactly 5 months to the date from the NOA1. We had most of our interview documents together, but it still caught us by suprise. You can see in my timeline a slightly bigger gap between the NOA2 and the interview then in some others profiles. This is mostly due to being caught off guard. laughing.gif
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-04 16:53:00
Philippinesscar at wrist
My fiance doesn't have a scar on her wrist. She does have one that runs from her forehead through her eyebrow and dots her cheek that she got falling from a tree as a child. St. Lukes questioned her over and over again about the scar on both days. She told me after her medical that she felt like they where trying to confuse her. They repeatedly asked her how it happened, when, etc? Her scar is not in a suicide type area, but it is in an area where it appears there could have been past abuse to her. She stuck with the same story, the truth and nothing ever came of it. So maybe if you answer the question with confidence and conviction and don't waiver in your response, you will be okay. I think worst case scenario they make you do a psychiactric evaluation. Good luck!
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-07 07:04:00
PhilippinesCFO ... wow
I understand the concept that the exit seminar is supposed to educated exiting Filipino's on adjusting to their new life in a foreign country. I support that concept. What I don't understand is why the CFO acts like the 2nd line of defense for fact checking the requirements for potential visa's. That is the job of the Embassy personel. Your American passport has nothing to do with your fiance/spouse learning how to adjust. Your singleness will definately be checked before the visa is issued. So why does the CFO require these things? Many people have their opinions on that, I have mine. After living in the RP I can say one thing for sure: Filipino Government and business loves the process. For example I got a permit to haul livestock in the RP a year ago, it required a seminar and this big drawn out process that cost twice the peso's the actual permit cost. When my fiance saw me getting frustrated she just smiled at me and said "Filipino's love the process." I found just laughing about it is better then getting bent out of shape, just remember deep breaths. If you spend any amount of time in the RP you will notice that not too many Pilipino's complain. I think partly because they have resloved themselves to the way things are. Its a cultural thing, and hard to do as American. The RP will teach you patience, good luck this journey is worth it.
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-26 06:49:00
PhilippinesI-130 Question
An expat friend of mine just arrived here in the United States after working in the RP for 20 months. His contract in the RP is over with and he currently has no job. He married a Filipina with 3 kids while on assignment over there. He wants to petition his wife and her 3 kids using an I-130. Is the correct filing he should use? Or does someone else have any suggestions? Also he is a little concerned about filing anything without a job, and doesn't plan to look for one for about a year. His wife and him have a house in the RP and he is on some paperwork showing ownership? and they have other joint accounts in the RP. Also his 2008 tax return shows earnings of $174,000 for the year. His 2009 earnings are already at $80,000. He wants to file his petition here in the U.S.A and then fly back to the RP in August and basically sit on his butt for about 8 or 9 months and do nothing but relax. Can he do this and still start the immigratation process for her now? or should he wait? He said he might take a job in Japan or somewhere else close to the RP if he likes the terms, but mostly just wants to relax. Whats his best option?

Thanks in advance for any advice, I told him he needs to sign up to Visa Journey, but he's an old fashion type dude that still hasn't completely embraced the internet.

Wyatt
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-21 04:39:00
PhilippinesLearning and Teaching Tagalog/Filipino/Pilipino
I was fluent in Tag before I even met my fiance/wife in the RP. Had already been in the RP for awhile. I learned the verbs first, then how to conjugate them into present/past tense etc. Once you get the verbs down, you are off to the races. I still can't type Tag. because I learned phonically how it would be spelled in english.

Kugeng is a native Bisaya speaker and her Tag. is somewhat shortsided. Our first ever conversation was in Tag. and she had to really strain her ears due to my Texas-draw-slang hahaha.....After about 15min. She said to me "you know, I speak english" hehehe....We both had a good laugh.

Since that time, I started trying to learn Bisaya....argghhhhhh.... helpsmilie.gif Grabe Lisod. The only reason I even make an attempt at Bisaya is because of my in-laws. They only speak Bisaya and I really like them alot. I still speak Bisaya like a 6 year old. I can fake it like I am a pro until someone gets off the normal chit-chat. Since learning Bisaya I have forgotten alot of the Tag. Most of the time I mix them up together and I wish I would have never learned Tag. because it makes Bisaya way harder. Only bisayan speakers that are around me alot can understand my Bisaya because its very slang. Any language is about gaining confidence...the more you try and mess it up and get corrected the better you get at it. With Bisaya it seems like everyone is speaking it differently, so I can be around a certain group of people and everything goes fine......then I get around a different group....and they keep saying "what? what?" It pisses me off when they really understand what I am saying but want to nit-pick my grammar. Once people start doing the "what? what?" I just tell Kugeng, to translate for me. I have found the nit-picking of grammar is a Pilipino superiority thing....I hardly ever correct Pilipino's bad English grammar. I consider that rude.

For example when I typed Grabe lisod...very difficult in Bisaya....I wanted to type grabe losood because thats how it sounds it should be spelled in english. I can't even remember the correct Tag word for it.

Wyatt

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-22 10:09:00
PhilippinesOur Flight to the U.S.A.
Thanks everyone for your well wishes. We have a vaccination sheet from St. Lukes but all it says is vaccinations will be administered in the U.S.A. I already found a semi-local civil surgeon. We are just now getting settled in, so we will start the AOS journey in August after we get married. Thanks again for the congrats.
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-22 09:24:00
PhilippinesOur Flight to the U.S.A.
We started our trip to Texas the morning the typhoon hit near Luzon on July 17th. Our plane wasn't scheduled to leave Manila until 10:55am, and it ended up leaving about an hour late. No problems at all leaving Manila, and they allowed us to exit through RP immigration at the same time. The lady officer was really nice and made a comment about my 4 pages of RP immigration stamps. The flight to Taipei went pretty smooth, but Kugeng said she wanted a pill for her nerves when we landed in Taipei. So I gave her 1/4 of a tiny 5mg Diazepam thinking that would just take the edge off and allow her to relax. Wrong! Her 90lb frame became my oversized ragdoll and at one time I even got a little worried. I normally take 3 of these and can still function at a high level. Anyways she slept almost the entire 12hr flight, and I was very jealous of that. About an hour before we landed I made her wake up to get her bearings. Her eyes where still glazed over and she was definately still in the zone. So I forced some coffee down her and told her to try and get sharp because they might interview her. Well she went and washed her face, but I could see in her eyes she wasn't 100% so I started getting nervous. As soon as we got off the plane at LAX and walked towards customs, a lady officer grabbed us and without us saying a word said "go to the very end." I said "I am a citizen and she is ...." I didn't even finish my sentance and the officer said go to the end. So we go to the end and walk right up to the custom's booth and I handed the Asian officer our passports and her packet. The officer's name was a common Vietnamese last name, and he looked Vietnamese to me. He looked at our passports, tore open the packet and said "you know my wife is Filipina also, we got married in the RP. I said oh yeah! so you know about what we have been through. He asked about what I thought about the process, and I said it went suprisingly smooth and quick for us. He said count yourself lucky we got 2 RFI delays. I was like wow! you would think because of your job, yall would zip right through. He said, "nope, I am looked at just like a regular guy, no special treatment." He scanned over the packet looking at the pictures and asked "when do you two plan to get married?" I said August. He asked Kugeng what province was she from? She said Negros, and then he said good luck on your new life and welcome to the U.S.A.

Thats it wow.gif ! He asked Kugeng only one question. Thank God! hahahah....because not only where we at LAX, she was in her own private la-la land yes.gif . Hind-sight being what it is, it was extremely stupid for me to give her even a sliver of a Diazepam headbonk.gif . 13hrs later she was still pretty messed up! It could have been very dangerous if she would have had a reaction to it or something. It was an innocent mistake, I just couldn't imagine a tiny sliver of a 5mg Valium having that much effect on her.

We didn't get any medical form, or anything. He stapled part of the I-94 form to her passport, stamped it and wrote an exit date on her K-1 visa. After he welcomed her, I asked him if we get any medical form to adjust her status? He scanned back through the documents and said he didn't see anything. He then said they would be mailing us something in the mail. Anyone know about this???

Wyatt and Kugeng
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-20 21:30:00
Philippines***Bible Verses of the Day****
Psalm 91:9-16 (New International Version)
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-04 18:02:00
Philippinespurchasing roundtrip tix online from US for parents in PH
I bought my fiances ticket along with mine here in the U.S.A using my normal travel agent. We flew in together on July 17th on China airlines. I was not asked to pay a tax at any time when leaving Manila, and it was not charged when I purchased the ticket. Good luck.
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-07-28 23:08:00
PhilippinesDoes anyone feel the same way?
QUOTE (MarPhee @ Aug 28 2009, 01:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (ErosandSally @ Aug 27 2009, 06:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It is me or almost everyone is or was just a nervous wreck when it comes to the last 2 steps.....

Medical and Embassy Interview....

Gosh....
She is having Medical next week and Manila Embassy Interview few weeks after that... and I cant even sleep anymore,
I am a worry freak and a nervous wreck... wacko.gif

Anyone else went through the same way?

Thanks for sharing...


I experienced that too. But don't worry everything will be ok. Have faith. smile.gif



Ha.ha.ha....Yap I think everyone goes through what you are going through. I remember all the pacing and the phone calls back and forth. I agree with what someone else posted: If you follow the guides and have faith, it will all work out God willing. I remember being so worried about my wifes interview, and how I told her to call me the minute she gets back to the hotel. It was still daylight in Texas and I was checking some of my neighbors cows that evening when I got the phone call from the RP. When the cell rang and I saw it was her, I noticed it was 8:45am in the RP and thought to my self it sure is early. She told me she got the pink slip and that she ran all the way back to the hotel barefoot because she wasn't used to the type of shoes she wore to the interview. After we had a good laugh about that, I dropped down to my knees right there beside that fence line and thanked God for hearing our prayers. Her interview lasted only minutes. My neighbor called me later that evening to talk about his cows, and I couldn't answer even one of his questions ha ha ha.......My body was there, but my mind was in the RP.

Just relax and take some deep breaths.......Its going to be alright. Trust me this journey is worth every moment of anxiety. We just started the AOS part.

TripleGMalePhilippines2009-08-28 03:23:00
PhilippinesFilipinos who will be going to Texas or living in Texas
My wife and I live in Wallisville, Texas. Thats 45 miles east of Houston and 45 miles west of Beaumont. My neighbors wife is Filipina and she has lived here for 5 years but she is currently in the RP with her husband because he is on assignment there. When they return my wife will have a Bisaya speaking Filipina right next door.


GOD BLESS TEXAS!

"My wife wasn't born in Texas, but she got here as fast as she could!"
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-08-28 03:58:00
PhilippinesThose who recently moved here in US


Wyatt[/quote]
Are you sure it's Kugeta and not Pugita? laughing.gif
[/quote]


Kugeta...The bisayan word. She goes by Kugeng though. I call her Ging for short.
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-10-27 11:29:00
PhilippinesThose who recently moved here in US
Awsome Pics. Rlogan. My Negros mountain wife likes working the bulldozer also lol laughing.gif . I only let her push logs into piles for now, until she gets more skilled. I think I might have married a pyro-maniac because she loves to burn the piles of underbrush also. I have already gotten a frantic call out at work with her telling me she accidently set the forest on fire. After our discussion I explained it was okay that we have good fire-lines cut, and it was most likely just underbrush burning. When I got home she was crying, but I told her great job, because I had planned on a doing exactly what she did on accident once the temperature was right. She got lucky with wind direction but other than that it was almost a text-book prescribed burn laughing.gif . Mostly now to stay busy, she just picks up sticks (no burning), fishes in our pond, fills the deer feeders, and moves things around with the 4-wheeler (her motorized Karaboa). We float the Texas rivers, go camping and we generally both are nature lovers. I don't think she could make it up north though. It dropped down to 48 degrees in our part of Texas last week and she didn't like it one bit laughing.gif .

As far as mis-information on Birth Control, I could believe just about anything some-one might have been told. My wife thinks her twin at birth was an octopus, hence her name Kugeta. She also believes in Tappy-po and other run of the mill non-humans. Superstitions are just one of the fun parts of being married to a Filipina in my opinion.

Wyatt
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-10-27 10:56:00
PhilippinesFilipino foods that my Kano fiance doesnt like
My fiance eats dried fish atleast twice a day, 7 days a week but I can't stand the taste. Even if I cook a sirloin steak, she would rather have dried fish and rice hehe...

Balut...grabe lami (masarap)....I like it with alot of vinegear. First time I ever ate it was at a 7/11 in Tagaytay several years ago...I have been eating it ever since good.gif

Something as a Kano I have noticed is Pilipino's when using silverware, hold the fork and spoon at the same time in different hands and are very good using silverware with both hands. If you notice most Kano's only eat with one hand, and will put the fork down to use the spoon and vice versa. In America we eat alot more bread and use that as our shovel to push things onto the fork. star_smile.gif
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-06-14 02:15:00
PhilippinesTROPHY HUNTERS
WOW! Rlogan...There is not much else to say, you Alaskan outdoor guys make everyone else look like pretenders. Here is a pic. of a backyard 8 point on trail cam, and Kugeng standing beside the river after a 8hr. paddle and float. We fished along the way catching Guadalupe bass, and some small large mouth. She woke up the next day and said her shoulders hurt, and she had several bumps and scratches from tipping the canoe. She still had a great time and I think I created a fishing monster. We have enough Axis meat to last 6 months, so the whitetails here at the house get a pass this year.

Wyatt

Attached Files


TripleGMalePhilippines2009-11-02 08:05:00
PhilippinesTROPHY HUNTERS
My most prized trophies:

Gold medal Axis (gun harvest) , Bronze medal Axis (bow harvest), and 9 pt. whitetail (bow harvest). Last but not least and most important trophy of all Kugeng, slang for Kugeta (my trophy Octopus). Toughest woman I ever met. She can carry a 25 kilo sack of rice up hill balanced on her head with no hands, wearing sandals and never break stride. She grew up harvesting and growing her own food while living without electricity in a Nipa hut the size of most American walk in closets. She is a stranger in her own country but still she sings as she cooks our food, washes our clothes, and while planting corn. I admire all of the qualities she possesses and they are exactly what a Texas country boy like me needed in a partner. Its a miracle in it self that we ever crossed paths. Praise God. He knew what my heart needed and did not forsake me.


Wyatt

Attached Files


TripleGMalePhilippines2009-05-09 16:20:00
PhilippinesShe's on the way!
Congrats! Its party time!!! kicking.gif
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-11-25 14:02:00
Philippineshow to bring parents in the US for visit
I am sure there are plenty of success stories, but I only know of one Filipino that tried to come here on a tourist visa. A filipino friend of mine that holds two engineering degrees, has property, a small business and brings in a monthly salary of about 55,000php. His American boss who is another friend of mine wanted him to come visit his house in the U.S.A. They have worked together for over 10 years and are very close. Anyways this Filipino guy tried to get his tourist visa for this visit, and when he went to his interview the Filipino interviewer said "I have known my boss for 15 years and have never been to his house, and he lives right here in the Philippines, request denied!"

Essentially the whole process can come down to whoever does the interview regardless of proof of ties. In this case the interviewer didn't believe the guy was going to visit his boss, because he couln't imagine someone doing so. Crazy stuff in my opinion and basically a ####### shoot. If they turned this guy down, my in-laws have absolutely NO SHOT regardless of their reasons for wanting to visit. I heard that if you have kids and both have jobs that parents are sometimes more likely to get a tourist visa to visit to help with the kids....but I don't know the validity to that tale.

Wyatt
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-11-23 14:54:00
PhilippinesAny Americans here ever go to Maguindanao..
I totally agree. The best part about landing in Manila is the flight out of there to somewhere else in the RP. My favorite spots in Luzon are Batangas, and the Island of Oriental Minduro next to Batangas.

Wyatt



QUOTE (tallcoolone @ Nov 25 2009, 08:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Heres what I find in Manila.

Taxis' trying to overcharge or not use meter or take the longest route possible.

Going to Money Changers they try to screw you over

Everybody and their dog is trying to sell : Watches, SunGlasses, Cialis on the streets.

Metro Manila is just way too crowded and dirty for my taste, and the pace is too fast.

The best thing to do in Manila is to hop a plane to another city in PI....


TripleGMalePhilippines2009-11-25 10:15:00
PhilippinesWhat's the most memorable event in your sporting life?
I recovered a fumble for a touchdown in highschool ball, pretty exciting moment for a fat lineman. Caught a 9lb speckled trout wade fishing off the gulf coast. Killed a gold medal axis with my bow. These are not huge sporting feats but they are all part of a blessed life so far.

Wyatt
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-11-25 14:19:00
PhilippinesFalling for Internet date cost American P100,000
I feel for the guy, but 100K pesos to someone he never met in person??? He might have got off cheap considering this might keep him from traveling to the RP. Not saying the RP is loaded with more scammers then any other country, but the pros and semi-pros in the RP could really do a number on a guy like this. After living in a remote area of the RP for a while I got lonesome for American converstation, so I started approaching every American I saw to have a chat. A big handful of them where living life in a scam. They where broke or near broke waiting on their SSI check to hit the bank. Some of these guys where getting between 40 to 50 thousand pesos a month. Now in Manila that might not be huge money, but in the province an American can live 80%kano/20% pinoy style and be very comfortable with that kind of cash. All these dudes had one thing in common and entorouge of pilipinos at their side. They didn't have the ability to say NO, and couldn't understand Bisaya. Eventhough the scam was obvious to me and Kugeng, it seem to totally eluded these fellows even though they had been in the RP for years.

Is it sad? Yap, but these guys are at fault also.
TripleGMalePhilippines2009-12-02 06:21:00