@Lenny Gemar
American expat in the Philippines
Forum
23 posts
About me
American
Lives in Altavas, Western Visayas
Speaks English, Morse Code.
Registration: 14 October 2022
Activity
Hey you Baguio lovers! Hotel suggestions please. by Larry Fisher
I haven't been to Baguio since about 1982. But my honey lived there for a year a long time ago and I want to take her there for her Birthday in a couple weeks. I don't want to go crazy overboard on pricing. We'll just fly in from Cebu for a few days ...
We enjoyed our five-night stay at Azalea Hotels & Residences Baguio, just across the street from the north entrance to Teacher's Camp. While we can recommend it, I'm sure there are plenty of other places just as nice. It depends on ... Read More
BIR Registration for Foreigners by FindlayMacD
I posted a few weeks ago about registering with BIR to become a Philippines tax payer, the reason for doing this is that I am paying more than PHP5,000 tax on the extra pension that I receive (over and above my UK state pension from) USS, which is ...
in 2019 I went into the BIR office in Kalibo and got a TIN within about 15 minutes. I'm not paying any taxes but needed it for some other government paperwork. My only income is retirement income from the USA, which is not taxed by the ... Read More
Foreign driver license conversion by Filamretire
So I'm in Philippines now and have 90 days to use my US driver license. I want to convert it but need ACR-I card. I am on balikbayan one year visa. Went to immigration and they wont give me an ACR -I card since I have one year on visa. I said I will ...
@nickfisher0640 I've heard differing responses. Some say leave and return the same day and others it must be 24 hours. It probably depends on the immigration agent you get when you return. To be safe, make it an overnight somewhere or even a ... Read More
What is your Electric Bill like ? by frankanderson
Just wondering, I am starting to suspect Condo's pay a lot more for electricity than a house. My missus inform me that its possible that condo tenants pay commercial prices, similar to stores and businesses. If that's right, that's ...
Before adding solar, our monthly bill averaged 25k (pesos) each month. Since we added a net-metering solar system 16 months ago, it runs around 13k, which isn't bad since we've had a lot of cloud cover over the past six months. The solar dropped ... Read More
Annual Report by Enzyte Bob
My stepson completed my annual report yesterday in person (P310). I provided him with a letter authorizing him to represent me along with my passport &13A card.Previously I watched a discombobulated Youtube video by Philly in the Philippines ...
I made my entries on the website and then the next day I went armed with my passport, iACR, and 310P. In and out in about 10 minutes in Kalibo. Read More
house timber by baxi2775
hi , is there any problems with termites attacking the house timbers ?
@baxi2775 yes. That’s why we built our house with concrete and steel. Only the door frames and doors are wood, and of course some furniture. But absolutely nothing structural is wood. You have to do that if you want your house to survive ... Read More
Foreign driver license conversion by Filamretire
So I'm in Philippines now and have 90 days to use my US driver license. I want to convert it but need ACR-I card. I am on balikbayan one year visa. Went to immigration and they wont give me an ACR -I card since I have one year on visa. I said I will ...
I converted my US license to a Philippine license 60 days into my 12-month BB privilege. My passport, US DL, and a barangay ID card were the only paperwork I needed. Every office is different as I have heard, so trying another office may be the ... Read More
From Student Visa to Temporary Resident Visa by Professor Stygian
Hello, I would like to know if these procedures are right so that I am not being misguided. It's a hell lot of money to spend. I recently got married in the Philippines to a Filipina, and downgraded my student visa, so I can apply for a TRV. ...
@Professor Stygian you have options. Theoretically, you could live here just fine with no visa whatsoever. When my wife and I retired here, we entered the country as Balikbayan. That's a privilege (not a visa) that is available where if you enter ... Read More
Which visa should we apply for? by TitoDan
My wife and I were Married in June of 2022, via Zoom. She and I were in my hotel room in Dumaguete with one of her daughters as witness; the other witness was my daughter in Utah, USA; the officiator was in the County Clerk's office in Provo Utah. ...
It looks like you have two choices. I did this with my wife 45 years ago so my experience is rather dated.If you are a U.S. citizen you have two ways to bring your foreign spouse (husband or wife) to the United States to live. They are:1) Immigrant ... Read More
Post-Covid-19 situation in the Philippines by Mickael
Hello everyone, The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the world, including on expats' lives. Travel restrictions, business closures, budget cuts, and health measures have created unprecedented challenges for those who have chosen to live in ...
My wife and I retired to her home barangay pre-pandemic in April 2019. We built our retirement house and visited the USA for Christmas that year. It was only a couple of months after we returned when COVID became prevalent in the news. April 1st, ... Read More
Another Meralco Bill by Enzyte Bob
I posted in the past about my Meralco bill. . . This months bill is P9477 using 752 KWH . . . . . P12.62 for KWH.
Ours was ₱13.85/kWh for February. Thank heaven for the ₱55.36 exchange rate. Read More
Up Up And Away by Enzyte Bob
Just received my latest Meralco bill.Wow . . . P12.02 kwh684 kwhP8218.85I know you others not using Meralco pay higher kwh.
Our kWh peak at AKELCO (Aklan) appears to have been in November. The last two bills have fallen a bit.₱13.5686 Aug₱15.1160 Sep₱15.0511 Oct₱15.3504 Nov₱15.4116 Dec₱14.5313 Jan₱9.6204 was what we paid ... Read More
Driving school for Filipinos... by Larry Fisher
Not that Filipinos NEED driver's ed or anything. *cough* But I'm reading an article today on Inquirer.net .It's about the cost of driving school which is now mandatory to get a license for newbies. They cited one person paid over 11,000 php ...
Honestly, I don't think I've had any issues with four-wheel drivers. It's the motorcycles and tricycles that pull out without warning or even looking, hanging in the fast lane when there is a perfectly good slow lane on the right. Driving at dusk ... Read More
Starlink in Philippines .. $599 unit & $99 monthly for 200 Mbps by PalawOne
Musk’s Starlink internet service to be offered in the Philippines in Q1Reuters - February 4, ...
@attykroll It is Internet service only. It can provide a path for VOIP phones (or Messenger or any other number of video/voice services) but doesn't provide a phone terminal to connect to a telephone. In my case I use a POTS phone connected to an ... Read More
Tankless or tank water heater? by Filamretire
Trying to decide a hot water system on a new home build. I see many homes have tankless point of use heaters, but you would need one for every hot water faucet, right? There are water boiler tanks electric and gas for whole house systems, which are ...
We have three tankless heaters. One in the kitchen so that we can wash and rinse dishes with hot water. And two (one in each bathroom shower) so that we can take warm/hot showers. We had no need for one for the washing machines as cold water ... Read More