My Life Before the Philippines – Part 2

13 comments

1. Dear Reekay, It is really nice to see you again online. It is not that you have been vacant, it is just that I have. I watched most of this at work on my lunch and really liked getting back in touch with your stories about life as we know it. You stay positive and that so motivating when times can be difficult. We met in Duma February 2017 and had a nice lunch and visited your garden place. Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts and making this stranger feel comfortable and welcomed.
   I have been here working in the US visiting my kids and grandkids. Missing Phili a bunch and hope to have enough saved to make it back soon. Cebu? I heard I should go there. Would you be so kind as to get me up to speed on Cebu? I really liked Duma but maybe you found more there? I remember as you told me Duma had everything. Take care and be well, glad to see you are pressing on and living well.
   Balaji.

   1. hi balaji.. with regard to a comparison of duma and cebu, i suppose the big difference is ‘big city’ and ‘little city’. 🙂

      i love duma and that area. lately i’ve been in the it-park area of cebu and enjoying that for different reasons. cebu is more expensive but offers more amenities. however the south section of cebu is not as nice, even though it is slightly cheaper than the it-park area.

      so it comes down to what you want.. the big-city experience or the small-town experience.

2. Good evening my name is Nikko You had told me to reach out to you when I got back into the United States because you are on vacation I was hoping if I leave you my email that she would reach out of me I have a few questions to ask you if you have a few minutes to spare My email address is Nikko.Rodriguez @gmail.com I will make sure I don’t take up too much of your time I just want to ask you some and advice On a few ideas that I had in I’m pretty sure you come back with some good answers thank you so much greatly appreciated

   1. i’ll drop you a line now via email. sorry for the delay, i’ve been in transit back to the ph. back in cebu now. 🙂

3. Reekay, off topic comment. Do you know if a reliable floral service I could use to send Valentine flowers/gifts to my girlfriend in Manila? I’m in the US and I found https://www.sendflowerstophilippines.net,
   but a couple of sketchy reviews have me a little unsure of using those guys.

   Thank you!
   Steve

   1. none that come to mind. as a side-note, most filipinas see flowers differently than a western woman. i’ve had better responses with a fresh fish from the fish market than with flowers. sounds crazy, but a big meaty fish is seen as a responsible way of spending money. while flowers are often perceived by a filipina as a waste.

4. Hi Reekay,

   I have watched several of your videos and they are very helpful. You are the most detailed vlogger on any subject on the internet today period. You explain things so clearly and concisely in an engaging way.

   I have taken 3 trips to PI (Cebu, Palawan, Bohol) and I love everything about it. I love the IT park area of Cebu City. I currently work for a fortune 500 company in the U.S. in a 100% virtual role. I can work remotely anywhere as long as there is a strong internet connection. My job requires transferring large files and accessing Microsoft servers for sql etc. My companies servers are based in Dallas, TX so there would be latency issues for sure. Here in socal, I get 15mbps download and 2 mbps upload. I have no issues dealing with files up to 50 mb size (vast majority of the files are in the 20-25mb range). From one of your videos you mentioned the fastest internet in PI is fiber optic/DSL. I have contacted several airbnb’s in Cebu City who have fiber internet connection and they get at best 8mbps. I would need to work eastern time zone (U.S.) hours of 9am – 5:30 pm. I looked into the TIDE co-working space in Cebu City IT park area (advertised as 20 mbps) but they are around $100/month for the overnight hours I would need.

   Do you know of any realistic way I could get reliable 15 mbps download/2 mbps upload in PI (excluding Makati or Manila) without having to go with an expensive co-working place? Based on my research outside of Makati this may not be possible.

   Thanks,
   John

   1. yes, you can get fiber and dsl speeds if in cebu or makati. it’s the wireless wifi that sucks. but with fiber or dsl you can get steady signals in the big-city areas.

      out in the province areas, LTE connection is a better bet since fiber and dsl are rarely available there.

5. Mr. Reekay,

   I have read your article about the ladyboys and to me it seemed like a problem to consider seriously. I have also listened to many of your videos and It seems I have found that you do not mention the ladyboys as also a problem in the Philippines for the foreigners that come to date in this country.

   So, I would like to ask you: How can you tell if someone looking as an attractive girl is not actually a ladyboy?

   1. the easiest way to discern the difference is in their voice and mannerisms. forget all the physical things, those 2 items will confirm a ladyboy easily. voice is not ‘natural’ like a woman and the mannerisms are somewhat exaggerated.

6. ReeKay,
   Just came across the video blog, very informative. I’ll be in Cebu in July. What are some good locations I’ll want to visit?

   1. some local places are; Fort San Pedro, Magellan’s Cross, Taoist Temple, Temple of Leah, the Larsian bbq, Ayala Mall to name a few.

7. Hi Reekay…
   Frustrating here in Cebu City not knowing that I can’t dial 911 on my iPhone with a globe account. What are my options for emergencies using my cell phone ?

   Thanks
   Karl

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