The US Government has just raised the cost of being a US Citizen.  They also started charging money to people who no longer want to be citizens! Yes, that’s right, you read it correctly, it will now cost you more to be a US Citizen, or to not be a US Citizen!  Amazing, huh? The fees for a US Passport have been raised by the US Government.  Previously, the application fee was $55, but was raised by 27% to a new amount of $70.  There is also a Passport Security surcharge, which has been $20, but was increased to $40, a 100% fee increase! Old Glory - the price just went up! Need more pages in your passport?  That used to be done for … [Read more...]

Over the past few weeks I have been writing about my process of acculturation in the Philippines.  I’ve lived here for 12 years already and I feel that I am nearly fully adjusted to the culture here, and to the daily ups and downs of living here.  One thing that I usually get a little chuckle out of is when somebody first moves here, or when they are getting ready to move here, and they tell me that there really is not much adjustment to make, they already love it here, and really have no adjustments to make.  I’m sorry, my friends, but it simply is not the case. A lot of these same people come back to me in a few years and say … [Read more...]

Yesterday, I took the jeepney into the city and got a haircut and took care of a few other things.  On the way, I saw this new restaurant just  near our house.  They had a big banner hanging in front of the place with a photograph of a hamburger, and advertising their “Amara Hamburger” for just P25. Wow, the photo really, really looked good.  Nice bun and a huge piece of meat.  Just P25?  I decided that on the way home I was going to stop there and pick up a couple burgers for lunch.  I usually only eat one burger, but I figured that for P25 it might not be as big as the photo suggested, so I’d get 2 just in case. A … [Read more...]

Today is a big, big day for LiP.  A milestone has been achieved on the site! LiP is about 5 1/2 years old now.  LiP started out as a small site, but it grew quite rapidly.  The first 6 months saw little traffic on the site, not many visitors and not much group participation on the site. After about 6 or 7 months, I convinced Feyma to write on the site as well.  Within about 2 more months, I brought on 2 or 3 other writers, and that has continued over the past 4 years or so.  Today, I feel that we have a very strong group of writers here on the Live in the Philippines Web Magazine. What is the milestone? 100,000 Comments and Counting! So, … [Read more...]

OK, it’s time for my third installment in my Acculturation series here on LiP.  I hope you are enjoying my articles in this series so far, and I still have a number of articles to go before I can fully explain how I have come very close to completing my acculturation in the Philippines.  I suppose that the truth is that an immigrant’s acculturation is never complete, but I am very close, and will only have minor issues to deal with for the rest of my life, I suppose.  As I mentioned in my first article in the series, though, there are some areas where I have chosen not to adapt to the local culture, and those will be addressed … [Read more...]

Last week, I wrote an article about my acculturation in the Philippines, and told you that over my next few articles I would be expanding on the topic, and focusing in on specific areas where I have become more in step with Philippine culture, and have done things to make my life in the Philippines more enjoyable and more in harmony with my surroundings.  Today, I want to focus in on language. Anybody who has read this site even just a few times has probably come across some of my articles about language, because it is something I have written about many times over the past 4+ years.  I’ll give a little refresher on the topic while I … [Read more...]

Today, I want to let LiP readers know about a new project that I have embarked upon.  It is something that I have actually been doing for a number of years now, but I have greatly expanded it and wanted to tell you about it, in case you have an interest. You probably know, if you read this site with any regularity at all, for several years now I have been offering an eBook called “49 Ways to Make a Living in the Philippines.”  The book has been available now for nearly 4 years, and has been hugely successful for me.  Even nearly 4 years down the road, I still sell many copies of the book each week. My New Venture- Ways to Make … [Read more...]

Culture is something that I care a lot about.  It is something of a hobby of mine to study Philippine Culture, learn from my studies and then try to apply what I can to my life.  Because I am living in the Philippines, I believe it is important for me to adapt the culture as much as I can.  I say this for two reasons, firstly because becoming more culturally similar to those around me will improve my life, and also because showing respect for the culture will make a good impression with Filipinos who come in contact with me. There are many ways by which I study the culture.  I am not talking about reading books and such, although I do … [Read more...]

This is a special time of the year in the Philippines.  December and January have special meaning for Filipinos. Christmas?  No, that’s special, but not what I’m talking about. New Years?  Again, New Years is great, but once again, not what I’m talking about today. I can just hear you asking: But, Bob, what else could it possibly be? Easy. It’s Calendar Time! Calendar time?  What’s that? Well, I am not saying that all the Filipinos rush to the store and buy new calendars.  No, not at all.  Most people here get calendars for free! Yep, free.  You see, calendars are one of the most popular types of … [Read more...]

Well, 2012 is just around the corner, in fact by the time you read this it will already be 2012 here in the Philippines, and that means that it’s time once again for me to predict what will happen next year in the Philippines. This is something that I’ve been doing for about 3 or 4 years now, and so far my predictions each year have been fairly accurate.  My best year was 2010 when I hit 90% accuracy.  I don’t believe I’ve ever been lower than 70% accuracy. This year, there is really a lot on the horizon, and to be honest, I find it difficult to decide where to focus on my predictions. My Predictions are a roll of … [Read more...]