Medical Treatment in Cebu City

As an expat blogger living in the Philippines, I get a lot of questions about medical treatment in the Philippines.

This week I went to Cebu City to see my doctor and I wrote about my trip on my blog.

As usual, I took a bus to the city from my home that lies on the edge of jungle in Nothern Cebu province.

Bus trips are not as hard to make as they use to be as there are many buses with air conditioning now. They bus drivers also don't race each other up and down the high way any more. 

It is a scenic trip and if you want to make it more interesting, take a bus without air conditioning. There might even be a rooster or two on board.

Dollar To Philippine Peso After The Downgrade

It has been almost two months since S and P downgraded the USA's credit rating and since the politicians tried to kill it with the debt disaster. Ironically, when S and P downgraded the dollar investors reacted by borrowing money from the US Government.

While I never would have predicted that then it served as a major learning opportunity for me. When the markets are confused as they were after the downgrade, investors turn to the dollar. Why do they do that because the dollar is stability. It is safe and is the backbone of the world economy.

The downgrade was a ploy for publicity and is unforgivable.

So what has the dollar done since then, well it has gone up. There are several reasons for that but it is in part because of the downgrade.  Read More.

Ogtong Cave Resort Review

I've read many less than stellar reviews of Ogtong Cave Resort located on Bantayan Island. I don't get it. Ogtong Cave Resort is very nice. Perhaps it is a little over priced but not excecessively so. If you want a cheaper place on Bantayan, you can certainly find that. Ogtong is probably the most expensive of all the Bantayan Island resorts.

I found it to be a nice place to stay and wrote a full review of Ogtong Cave Resort here.

You can check out my pictures of Bantayan Island on Facebook too.

This is the third resort I've stayed at on Bantayan because I usually travel on a budget. For me that means Tristan's Beach Resort. Now I do think Tristan's has better food and their service comes with a warm personal touch. The owner of Tristan's is about to retire and she will be renting out her resort to some new managers. I hope they don't change it a lot. I hope the cook is staying!

Ogtong has a nice cave but that alone isn't really worth staying at the resort for. Where Ogtong excells are the rooms and the view. It captures the sererene atompshere of what Bantayan Island is all about.

Bantayan is a place for relaxation. During most of times of the year it is quite and there are not a lot of tourist. You will often have the beach to yourself or perhaps a few locals harvesting various things from the Visyayan Sea.

 

Dollar to Philippine Peso is Trading Over 43

Despite S and P attempt to kill the dollar it continues to show signs of strength. In fact, even the downgrade by S and P caused the value of the dollar to rise. What did investors do in this uncertainty? They borrowed from the US Government, the downgrade caused investors to retreat to safety and safe is the US Dollar!

I hear people proclaiming the demise of the dollar and the doom of the USA. These people are usually selling a book or program to help you make a million dollars from the prophized doom. I call these the profits of doom!

For about a week now the dollar has been trading above 43 to the Philippines peso. Is the end of the decline of the dollar over for a while? I'm beginning to hope that it is. I'm not willing to say that it is, just hope..

To read more about my thoughts on the dollar to Philippines peso visit this link.

Live In The Philippines And Take Awesome Pictures

I love living in the Philippines. The other day it hit me that one thing I like about it is that provides for a never ending backdrop for amazing pictures.

I recently bought a used DSLR and have been learning how to use it, slowely.

I've used a SLR before, I've had one since high school but for the last several years I've been using nothing but point and shoot cameras. I've forgotten so much.

I'm looking forward to getting back into it and have been getting reaquainting myself with the golden mean and the rule of thirds. Digital editing really makes it easy to apply thirds to photographs. I've seen dramatic results after a quick review.

My pictures are already looking much better.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Since I've been living in the Philippines I've taken over 10,000 pictures. I took over 1000 just last week!

I'm trying ot et out a bit more and from behind this computer. With 1000 pictures of Bantayan Island to process though I may never get out of the door again! :)

I will, maybe today. I need to make a trip to the public market. The public market provides many oppurtunties for awesome pictures!  I'm a little bit shy, which surprised most people. I have to get over that so I can get the best pictures out there.

I wrote a full story about the things I like to photograph in the Philippines. I'd really like to see you're pictures too. Tell me where they are so I can go see them. :)

Loving Filipina

Last week Jessie and I went to Bantayan Island with a friend. We had a great time. We went for four days but ended up staying five. We stayed at Ogtong Cave Resort for three nights and my old favorite Tristan's Bantayan Island Beach Resort the last night. i must say though, I really like Ogtong. Our friend wasn't as impressed with it as I was. I don't know why. The grounds are beautiful. But they do have too many rules.  Like no t-shirt in the pool. I'd cook without one. It is also far more expensive.  I'm thinking of trying Mia's Beach Resort next time. My friend probably wouldn't like it there as it is a bit out of town and he is always going someplace. Me, I'm happy just setting my feet up and watching the tide role in while sitting on the dock of the bay.  Wasting time is just fine with me.

Filipina are often the most loving women int he world. On my last trip, Jessie amazed me. She subjected herself to some discomfort in order to ease my own. When I realized what she was doing, I made her stop. But I was impressed.  And I'm use to be treated well by her.
They are not all wonderful but there really are some great women in the Philippines. If you'd like to read about what Jessie did to me and my views on Filipina in general see this story:  Filipina

Beach Resorts In Cebu Don't Have to Be Expensive

Yesterday I visited a small hidden away beach resort in Nothern Cebu. You won't find a lot of foreigners at this resort and that's one of the things I like about it.

It is a low cost place to visit. I took the family there for less then P750 or less than $10. It was just for a few hours and is close to our home so I didn't need to stay overnight. We took the common form or transportation to get there which is a trike.

It is a great place to spend the afternoon and the kids will love swiming there. There are usually lots of kids there on the weekends. There are usually a few pretty Filipina sprinked around for the bigger "kids" to enjoy and enhance the natural beauty of the beach resort.

If you'd like to read more about this tiny afternoon adventure and maybe visit yourself follow this link: Cebu Beach Resort.

One doesn't have to spend a lot of money to enjoy most of what the Philippines has to offer. Many times you can have a good time and see some beautiful sites for very little money at all.

Soon I'm headed to Ogtong Cave Resort on Bantayan Island. Now Ogtong is one of the nicest places on Bantayan Island. Sometimes it is nice to spend a ltitle extra money too. A balance in all things goes a long way.