(mod edit}PART 1 Link. http://filipinaroses.com/showthread....he-Philippines
I arrived back in the UK tired, lonely and really missing Marvie. I had a day at home before heading off to France to join the Megayacht I was now working on, and we immediately set about making plans for us to meet up again on my next leave 8 weeks later.
Marvie had held UK Visas before, from when she’d be sent to London do courses by her employer, Steiner, so we hoped that it would easy for her to get a 6 month visit visa. I filled in the forms online whilst e-mailing and skyping back and forth for all of the information, and probably went overkill with the required evidence and letters, but thankfully after a very anxious wait, the visa was issued.
We booked the flights ahead of time, but due to some bad weather I encountered whilst sailing to Germany, Marvie arrived in the UK 2 days before me, where she was taken care of by my Mum. It turned out to be an excellent opportunity for them to bond.
The bonding was necessary, as my family were still a little dubious about my Filipina girlfriend. Many of the concerns were surrounding the possible scams, and also because she already had a daughter and was still married to someone else.
I introduced her to flying, or my ‘mistress’ as she now calls it, and rented a plane to head across the Pennines to Blackpool. Unfortunately the cloud base lowered and we found ourselves flying through the valleys (a pretty dangerous decision in hindsight) with a lot of turbulence affecting our little aircraft since we were just a few feet below the clouds. The screams echoing through the headset lead me to believe that she wasn’t enjoying this, and to top it off once we landed I took her straight to the tallest rollercoaster in Europe (Pepsi Max?). Reading this, you might think that I’m pretty mean, but there is a method in my madness, in that I had to test her out to ensure she can handle my thrill seeking lifestyle. And thankfully, she still enjoys flying with me, but not as much as the kids do.
On my next leave period from work I plucked up the courage and returned to the Philippines, the first time involved a month in Cebu, although admittedly we headed off to Singapore and Hong Kong for a few days during that month. The experience was still a major culture shock, and at the insistence of Marvie we stayed at a relative’s house, which was a major difference to the Shangri La that I’d become accustomed to.
As soon as I arrived back in the UK, I found myself once again desperately missing Marvie and still had a week to go before I was schedule to return to work. In a moment of utter madness I used my airmiles to fly out to Hong Kong to meet up for a weekend, and a wild weekend at that.
After that holiday I was converted to the Philippines, and changed my home airport to Manila so that whenever I signed off the ship I would be flown straight to my mahal. I started to get used to the heat, and constant sweating. I got used to being pestered whenever I went outside and even got used to the luke warm showers. However, my biggest problem was the food. I like to know what I’m eating, and bone stew, fish head soup, or eyeball noodles don’t do it for me (or Balut for that matter). To make matters worse Marvie couldn’t cook (she can now, but she never used to be able to), but to the rescue came her cousin who managed to cook most of the Philippine dishes with fillet meat, in addition to a few tasty attempts at western dishes.
We rented an apartment in Marikina, which was great for my stepdaughter as it was clean, peaceful and had plenty of play parks. I think this the point at which I reached peace with the Philippines, but that wasn’t to last!
We started the annulment process, but never expected that it would take years to complete. Fairly early on, the lawyer advised us about the risks involved in an adulterous relationship, but we pretty much ignored that and got on with life.
About a year into the annulment process, I needed to go for a course in the UK for 6 months, being held in Warsash near Southampton. We decided to once again apply for Visit Visas for both Marvie and my stepdaughter and headed to the UK in late December.
Arriving into snow and cold temperatures, with very few winter clothes between us, I suddenly realised that two years living away from the UK and many years before that of working in warmer climes had softened me up (a bit like a Southerner really).
We had a great time in the UK, and Angel started at Nursery school there where both her confidence and English improved rapidly. I was up at 6am and often studying till 1 or even 2am in the morning, which wasn’t easy for any of us. Marvie started to enjoy the UK, she particularly enjoyed the South Coast and being able to walk along the beach most days, despite the cold.
Suddenly one day, she broke some surprising news to me, she was pregnant (I obviously found some time for leisure during the studying). This was a serious shock for me at 25 years old, and something I really wasn’t ready for, but that quickly turned to excitement and I knew that I had only one option, and that was to support Marvie in every way possible. I was determined more than ever to complete the annulment and get married as soon as possible.
When we returned to the Philippines we met up with the lawyer who spoke to us at length about the issues of Adultery, and the risks we were taking. We weren’t sure what to do, but knew that if we were caught, there would be serious repercussions. Facebook accounts were deleted, photos were removed from friends profiles and we decided to move to Cebu. But little did we realise that the challenge was only just beginning…
As for the ring, we never did get that back, despite Marvie visiting the lost property at NAIA Airport.
To be continued…
Quote Reply
Originally Posted by raynaputi
