Monday, March 14, 2016

Getting Real Honey in the Philippines

I once talked with a professional beekeeper in the Philippines and he described a pretty sad situation. He told me that most of the honey collected is not harvested by beekeepers. It is found by Filipinos who go out into the jungle in search of hives and in the process of collecting the honey destroy the entire hive killing all the bees.
realhoneyinphilippines
Getting real honey in the Philippines is not easy. What we are sold as pure honey usually has lots of sugar and other additives. The situation is no better on the supermarket shelves back home. Testing of most brands on American supermarket shelves found that up to 80% did not even qualify as honey.
When I first arrived in the Philippines and was in the process of opening a dance and fitness studio this old man wondered in with the bucket. I tasted the honey and it was delicious. I purchased some. I soon wished I had of got more as I soon learnt it was not easy to find real honey.
The next time I saw a guy with bucket selling honey with a piece of honeycomb in the bucket I purchased it without even tasting it.   Big mistake. It was basically sugar syrup. Over the years I have seen others and each time I tasted the honey I knew it was diluted.

honeycombinbucketYesterday the GF returned with honey and told me it was the real thing. She explained that she visited the store of a relative and asked about the honey displayed and asked if they had real honey.
She said her aunty put her fingers to her lips to signal a secret and went behind the counter and brought out an unmarked bottle (actually a Tanduay flask). She even told my GF where the honey came from. The cost was 200 pesos which is not cheap but I confirm that again I am enjoying pure honey. It’s worth it.
JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE A PIECE OF HONEY COMB IN THE BUCKET DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE GETTING PURE HONEY!


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Thursday, March 10, 2016

Retire to Agoo La Union

An Town Full of History by Damon Simms 




When I first came to live in the Philippines a few years ago I never expected that I would end up living in a small town on the coast of North Luzon. I originally lived in Baguio City thinking that I would find the climate more agreeable but the combination of the ceaseless traffic jams and cold, wet weather got to me in the end. When it came time for myself and my partner to buy property we decided that the coast was a better choice. As she is from Baguio and did not want to go too far afield we chose La Union. The warm weather and beaches appealed to me (I’m a big fan of ‘beer drinking weather’) and the proximity to Baguio appealed to her. So we found ourselves on the hunt for a place to live in an area that neither of us had ever lived in before.

After looking around (and around) for several months we finally found the perfect property in a town called Agoo. Agoo is the commercial and business hub of the second district of La Union, has a population of about 65,000 people and, as I have taken great pleasure in discovering since we moved here, has a whole lot of history behind it. It is one of those things peculiar to the Philippines that information can be quite difficult to come by, other parts of Asia that I’ve lived in have very well documented histories but not so here. Over the course of the past six months or so I’ve done a fair amount of research and what I’ve discovered about the city we now call home and the province that it is in has been extremely interesting.

Read more here:

 http://philippineslifestyle.com/blog/2016/03/11/town-full-history-agoo-la-union/
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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Facebook Groups about the Philippines

Here are some of the Facebook groups we run and some we just like:

Philippines Scams and Warnings
We are a community based information sharing service with the mission of helping people stay safe by providing public listings of Businesses, People and Places to avoid in the Philippines.


Making A Living In the Philippines

Our community is for anybody outside the Philippines, and expats already in the Philippines, that want to explore money making ideas. 

Join our community to discover what you need to know to find work, setup a business or invest in the Philippines and use our FREE boards to search for jobs, find businesses for sale and explore business opportunities.


Living in the Philippines on a budget

Expat Living in the Philippines on a budget - ideas and life hacks to save money.

Most people that come to the Philippines to live do so on a budget. This group is for those here on a budget that would like to share ideas on how to maximise that budget by saving money on their living expenses. It will also be a great resource for anyone planning to move her and wanting to work out a budget.

> Share your money saving ideas and local knowledge
> Check and compare prices to avoid being ripped off
> Discover local substitutes for expensive or difficult to find things.


More Fun In The Philippines

A fun look at the Philippines from a foreigners perspective. Filipinos love to have fun and not take life to seriously and its in this same spirit that I have setup this group. Many things are done differently here and in this group we will share some of the more interesting an amusing ways things a done in the Philippines. This includes some epic failures to make you laugh. Share your funny experiences in the Philippines here. Use of satire is permitted, but DO NOT post anything that directly insults the Philippines and Filipinos. Racist remarks will be deleted and get the member banned.


Filipina Relationships

This is a non Filipino, MEN ONLY group for men that are interested in dating Filipinas, or have a Filipina girlfriend, fiancé or wife.

There are groups out there which seem to put the Filipina on a pedestal and only want to view them through rose coloured glasses. I have observed people attempting to discuss real problems or expressing legitimate concerns or criticisms only to be attacked an 
If you are in a great relationship with a Filipina then this group is probably of no interest but if you are like most people that encounter problems and misunderstanding then this is where you can gain a better understanding and maybe get some good advice.


Philippines Property Primer

A Guide on Buying, Renting, and Leasing Philippine Property


Philippines Expat Business Network

This group is for expats that own and operate businesses in the Philippines. If you are planning to start a business please join our Making A Living In The Philippines group. 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/makingalivinginthephilippines/


Philippines to Australia

This group has been created for discussion on topics related to Filipinos engaged or married to Australians migrating to and living in Australia. The main focus is on migration and inter-cultural relationships but we are not restricted to this. In fact the topics discussed in this group are broad and can include just about anything about the Philippines, its culture, and Filipinos living in Australia. We want this to be a non threatening and happy place to hang out. Please watch the video which explains the rules for participating in the group.

This group is sponsored by Down Under Visa (www.downundervisa.com.au) who specialise in assisting Filipinos (engaged or married to Australians) to lodge successful visa applications to travel to Australia. They publish a lot of good information related to migration and Filipino-Australian relationships on their websites and blogs and we will share this information with the group.

Please note that this is not a place to find a job in Australia, or to find a partner in Australia, or to sell things. Thanks.


Expats in the Philippines (exclusive)

Dedicated to finding facts about living in the Philippines as an expat. No Filipinos are allowed to join. No adverts are allowed nor any that infringe the Facebook rules and conditions.
No hatred allowed!
No politics other than issues that effect those that live in the Philippines!
No trolling!
There is a Library of factual documents concerning living in Philippines based on getting members street wise.


Expats Philippines advertiser

Expats and families only: Please feel free to place your houses for sale, rent adverts in this group. Boats, vehicles and beach resorts any thing you may wish to.


Expat Health and Wellness

Well, It would be nice to just drop into our GP, and get all of our Health problems sorted out free of Charge. Unfortunately, Its not the case for most of us, so we should better look after Ourselves. You are not alone, we all ( the lucky ones .. smile emoticon ) get old slowly….


Philippine Boat Club

For water lovers


Grow your own in the Philippines

We live in a Tropical Paradise, lets enjoy it, and make the most of it.


Prepping Philippines

Its time to wake up and face the facts…


Philippines Outsourcing Help

This group is for you if you are considering outsourcing part or all of your business processes, already setup up outsourcing but it not delivering the results you expected or having difficulty communicating / managing virtual assistants in the Philippines.
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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Racing Unicorns is more fun in the Philippines…

https://www.facebook.com/groups/funinphilippines/

True story! I visited a guy that was married to a Filipina at his house in Melbourne Australia. This guy was into horse racing and online bettering. Around his house were lots of pictures of horses. There was also a picture of a unicorn.
When his wife first arrived in Australia she asked about the horse with the horn. The guy explained to his wife that they used to race them but they kept have terrible accidents because of the sharp horn with many jockeys getting horrific wounds to their back side. She believed it hook line and sinker.
He thought nothing more of it until he herd her explaining it to others much to the horror of the guy.
For your daily dose of More Fun in the Philippines join here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/funinphilippines/
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