1 on 1 Expat Help
Moving To The Philippines
Travel Tips
Would you like to pick my brain? I get a lot of request for that each day. I can’t get to all the questions I get in my inbox. Most of the time, the question has been answered on this site.
I know there is a lot of information here and that can make it harder to find what you are looking for but it also makes it more likely what you’re looking for is here.
If you’re a busy person and just don’t have the time to search the site you can purchase some of my time.
My fees are:
Consultancy:
$50 for thirty minutes.
We’ll get in a chat program, such as Skype and we can use voice or text. I prefer text but we can go voice if you like. I will also give you my phone number if you prefer to call.
House Hunting
$100 per day plus all food, lodging and travel expenses for myself and one assistant. I will visit the home, met the owner or owners representative. Take pictures and give my assessment of the total situation. How does the neighborhood seem, how does the owner seem, what would *I* do.
If you are in the Philippines and don’t have a credit card and are unable to purchase items online, I
will do that for you. You’ll need to tell me what you want. If you like, just give me a list and I’ll hunt them down for you. I will submit them with price for your approval and you can send payment via a local remittance office or LBC. I’ll add a 10% fee (minimum of 10.00) to your order. I can then purchase them for you. Of course, you’ll also have to pay all fees related to shipping your item to the Philippines. I’ll handle it all for you, just let me know what you need.
Private Investigation
Do you need to check someone out? Have a girlfriend here in the Philippines and need to know if she’s loyal? Do you have another situation you would like for me to check out for you?
- For cases that require travel: Fee will generally be $100 a day plus expenses related to the case for myself and an assistant.
- Where no travel is involved the fee will be $25 an hour limited to $100 per day. How much time you want me to spend will be discussed before hand.
Payment can be by Western Union, Wire Transfer to my US Bank Account or PayPal. Use the form below or leave a comment to contact me for more information. All fees to be paid before work is completed.
In nearly all cases, I can only tell you what I would do or how I see things. I cannot tell you what you should do or that your perceptions will always be the same as mine.







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To The Philippines Faster



dear Rusty Your work is greatly appreciated. Especially by those of us hoping to move to the Philippines. I am going to be there from mid May to mid July. Like yourself I am also type two diabetic. I take both insulin and tablets insulin nph novolin R AND NPH novolin N. I used to take glucopage or metformin but it started to damage my kidney. Is there anything I cud bring over for you Jessie or the children. i plan on bringing some nestle quick. Please let me know of anything else. Hope we can get together for dinner my treat. Once again keep up the good work. John Reiter
Wow John! Thanks. We could get together if I’m any place near you. Do you plan to visit the jungle? I don’t know if I’ll be in Cebu City. The cost of that is prohibitive. I can go to a resort for less money or I can spend P10,000 if I got to the City. You know, I should be able to go there for a lot less but that’s usually what I end up spending. Maybe I should just stay in my room. LOL But then, why go.
You must have been doing some deep digging on the site to find that. I forgot I missed my favorite snake drink. I must admitt I look forward to some. Sure, if you have a spare Harley or even broken down old redneck car, that would be awesome ha-ha. Only kidding….
I can’t think of anything I need from the states that I’m also willing to pay for. In fact, no, nothing. After three years, I get by on what I find here MOSTLY. There are only three things I still order from the USA a few times a year. Benadryl, (which can be found here under some name but I don’t know what it is) triple antibiotic cream which I do need or I’m going to loose a leg and it helps with the bloody rashes i get, Hi 8 tape which I can’t find here but others have, Tylenol but someone told me something else is the same thing, I can never remember how to say or spell it. something that starts with a P. I need to research that and find out if it is the same thing and Alka setlzer, something else I can’t find but have been told it is here. Oh and the cheese is still below my standards but I have become use to what I can find here. I just had a grilled cheese. Sometimes the cheese taste more like mayonnaise though and I hate that. Can barely eat it. I only order from the USA about twice a year now.
I hope I do get to see you!
Rusty, its Paracetamol. My wife’s family have 2 Generic Pharmacies in Cebu City. If you to know anything about the drugs here, just email me! Dan
Yeah, I know but I will forget it in five minutes. I will email you. I need effexor but I can’t find it in Cebu any more. I need to get back on it. Maybe the inlaws can help.
Rusty,
I learn more every time I got to your website!
I have question for you. I have not seen any mention of we subject anywhere.
And that is racial prejudice in the Phils.The reason I ask. My wife of ten years is a mix of Jamaican and American Indian, read black. She is a very highly educated person. And I love her to death.AS she takes very good care of me.
Like you I have several health issues, Though mine are not as severe as yours.
Another question. The walls and gates around houses. What is the history behind that. Is it the Spanish influence?
Oh I can’t help you with the smoking thing! been there done that.
But I think my wife could give you some advice on herbal meds to help you condition. If you are interested let me know. She has a PhD in natural healing.
Be Well
Marc
Hi Marc, thanks. i quite smoking 25 years ago. I smoked 4 to 5 packs a day. Starting back was the most foolish thing I’ve done in 25 years.
Its the mindset, I don’t want to quit and I didn’t want to quit before but it can be done. I say I don’t want to quit and that isn’t really accurate, it is more that I like it. I’m ashamed of myself for letting it happen, that’s why I haven’t really talked about it much.
There is some racism here. Once I was talking to a Filipino when Obama was running for office. At the time I was still very unsure of him and I have been a long time fan of McCain. If he had stayed true to himself, I probably would have voted for him but he didn’t, he totally blew it. I mention it because it was early in the campaign and I was still very unsure of Obama but was starting to lean his way. A Filipino asked me who I supported and I explained the above. He said “The only problem with Obama is that he is black.” I was pretty surprised and didn’t say what was on the tip of my tongue. I thought to myself that a huge part of the American population are ignorant of Filipino and would think he is black.
I asked Jessie if the mixed race children are treated badly here and she said “not really.” Since living here that has been my observation, that they are treated just the same. However, recently I saw a charity dealing with the subject. Kids are kids, so I won’t discount that there is some but generally no. I find the Philippines to be far less racist than the USA. I think though some Americans sometimes see actions they take as being racist but that’s not what is going on. I do intend to include that in a story I’m about to write. I could possibly make a whole article out of it. I’m not sure right now.
If you search this site for racism in the Philippines, I’m pretty sure something will come up. Or if you try searching the site for Hey Joe you might find it. I’ll try to find it and give you the link. It is not a racist term but some people that wish to be uptight, in my opinion, see it that way. Some just don’t like it but don’t see it as racist. I think its much ado about nothing.
I don’t think you’re wife will have any serious issues here with her mixed race. But there are always some stupid people around.
Here is a link to the article I mentioned. http://cebuexperience.com/living-in-the-philippines/racism-in-the-philippines/
Sry if I am butting in to a conversation between you and Rusty but i guess it is a public forum and I am procastinating on something more important and will add my 2 cents worth. People in the Philippines do make judgements about people based on skin color. White is best and prettiest and most desired and darker is something to be more ashamed of and uglier. The pharmacies are full of products which they advertise containing “whiteners” to the point where it is almost impossible to find soap or lotions without them. They rub this stuff on their faces to look white to the point where it can look grotesque. I was startled one time when waking up in the middle of the night I saw this ghostly face hovering over me before i realized the girl I went to bed with had whiteners on her face and as she stood by the bed in the dark they were all i could make out of her – was scary. Perhaps there the white is better attitude is a relic from centuries of colonial rule by lighter skinned peoples. Therefore to them lighter skin means stronger, richer, smarter. I think those attitudes are changing partly because of foreigners who actually seem too prefer the often times more strikingly beautiful darker skinned filipinas. I have spent alot of time and words trying to convince girls that their brown skin is beautiful and sexy and not something to be ashamed of. I don’t know if that general attitude about the desirability of skin colors there will be noticed by your wife in the form of discrimination. Thought I would try to help you make informed decisions and not try to sugar coat reality.
In re-reading I realized i should add, in order not to make things there seem worse than they are that the Filopino people are extraordinarily tolerant, accepting and good hearted, and good natured. They are deeply catholic and trying hard to live their religion under usually difficult circumstances.
Hey Joe is a term used all over the world. There is an exclusive hotel for the very rich or so it seemed to me, named Hey Joe
Jodon, not all Filipina dislike their dark skin.
Clearly light skin is desired by many but not by all, not by a lot.
I’ve known Filipina that think a light skinned baby is their road out of poverty, they don’t even care if they man comes with the baby.
Others love their darker skin.
Thanks Jessie, that’s good to know…….I tan every easy. It seems that everyone wants to look western……..but as long as she is guapa, or sort of, I’m happy. What the hell, I’m happy all the time, so for me it does not make any difference white or dark as long as she is a wonderful woman……those are hard to find for me……jejejejeje.
Hey Marc, I think the racism here in the Philippines is everyone wants to be light skinned. If you buy a lotion or soap in the store, they all say skin whightening. I think its because of the Spanish influence. When Spaniards were in the Philippines (for 400 hundred years), the Spaniards were the high class, the half Spaniards or whiter filipinos were the next class, and the dark filipinos were the low class. When you are a dark filipino, they think you are a farmer or laborer because you are dark. Thats why filipinas carry umbrellas when the sun is out so they don’t get dark. Here in Cebu, the filipinos always say that foreigners pick the ugly girls because they get the dark women. But someone told me in Africa, the models were all light skinned African women, until they woke up one day and said we are Africans and black and we are beautiful! Then the models became darker. But until that day in the Philippines, all the models and movie/tv actresses are filipinas with light complexions! But I say its good for us foreigners who don’t care the color as long as they are guapa (beautiful)! This is my observations from living in Cebu since 2005. My daughter is going to school at SouthWestern University in Cebu City and there are lots of Africans going to school there now. I don’t think filipinos treat dark people bad, but a lot think they want white boyfriends or husbands so their kids are light skinned. Dan
I’m back home now. I use a password vault and when I tried to log in with a new computer, they blocked me to prevent someone trying to hack my account. I had to login into gmail to unlock it from the new computer, but of course my gmail password is also in the fault.
My passwords are not easily hacked which makes them very hard to remember, impossible really. I have some passwords that are over 200 characters. Hack that. LOL
Hey Rusty, I laughed at the 200 char password. As I work in IT, we suggest only using 8-16 chars for passwords and only use things that are normal to your life, ie don’t use family, pets, dates or nicknames. Just think outside the box a little. Ok I do hope you do not have a 200 char password, hehehe. Just think, one misspelled word and rats, got to type it again, lol.
I can’t use real words at all. Too many people trying to hack me. I wont say how long they are, not giving away that much information. They are very long and completely random.
Hehe wow Bruce (guy who stole my name) u sure don’t sound like a very good IT guy if you don’t understand that people like Rusty are not the average internet user. He is a webmaster and as such that standard password advise you give to the average user is rather silly for him. Just as much as someone using pass 123. And he clearly stated he uses password vault witch is an automated entry so he’s not typing it in. I don’t use it myself as I have no need and I know about it, I would think an IT guy would be familiar with it. Maybe you just missed it, and please don’t take this message in a negative way I am just giving an opinion not berating or belittleing.
Rusty if you like feta good quality cheese you can easily order it from Manila or perhaps even from Cebu.
It comes in a tin can of 4kg. Original (sealed) packaging from Denmark.
Cost around P2000 plus shipping.
I am a regular customer.
Here is the e-mail if you are interested.
Contact person Katherine
cheesemisss@gmail.com
That is FETA CHEESE of course.
Mo Larry cheese, I live here in Texas, FETA cheese?…..is strange here, also…….I guess, I can cook my own Feta cheese and spinish, trying to fiqure out if spinish is a strange word in the Philippines, but I can make do, I quess……lol.
mmm Feta cheese. We used to have a Greek restaurant in town that had that on their salads. Yummy!~
I am looking for a dental clinic in philippines that does implants
can i hire you to find one for me
and to find a very nice apartment
Hi Frank, i will email you. I am in travel status right now o it might take a day.