Poor Mans Better Life ?

[ginapeterb]

How are guys finding things now the Honeymoon is over and your Girl has arrived in UK ??

I thought I would start a thread on this, now my honey has been in UK for 5 months, I know many of you have had your Girls here for much longer, I sometimes feel a little guilty, as my honey is clearly putting on a brave smile just for me, secretly, I know she is not 100 per cent happy here in UK, I mean who would want to leave all of this ?

It seems rather a joke in some ways, if you remember her interview transcript from June 2005 when the ECO Said

" So you just wanted to go to UK for a better life ? isnt that what you wanted ?"

I suppose you have to really define "Better life"

Yes ok, UK is a rich country, one of the G7 nations, but I don't know how you guys are finding UK Life, but I am increasingly seeing my income is doing less and less here, in terms of what I can buy, and I consider myself to have a higher than average income, money just seems to go nowhere these days, accomodation and petrol, food creeps up and up, and any other luxuries, just seem to escalate in price, when there is little show of any real inflation.

But back to my honey, yes she puts on a brave face, we look at some of the video clips she took at the christmas break, she had her life there, her important job, although the pay was not that good, it wasn't really so much about that, but more of the community life she lived.

For example, here where we live, you never seem to see anyone, like a contributor once said on this forum, "Even when my husband and I were not talking - I realized there is no one to talk to"
that seems to be pretty how much I would describe it, its not like you can have an open door policy here in the area which we live, considering its b......freezing, its raining outside, and we hardly know our neighbours.

I watched a programme yesterday called "No going back" you might have seen them on Sky T.V. its about couples who throw it all at another life in a warmer climate, they risk everything to make a better life as they see it, yesterday it was about a couple who started a carp fishing business in Northern France, it wasnt so much about the cost of living, but more about the social make up of life, better life can mean different things to different people, in France, the social scene seems to be more personalized, but here in UK we dont even say good morning to our next door neighbour, and if we do, we are quick to move on with what we are doing.

Now back to better life scenarios, I know my honey is feeling it, she keeps asking me, "Where is the sun "?

She would ask me, where are the people here in this place ? there is no one to talk to ? in a way, she is right, in the Philippines, she wakes up every morning, surrounded by masses of family, there is always someone to talk to, maybe a quick chit chat outside the house, and on the way to work, the place is filled with the bustle and hustle of trikes, jeepney's and when you are working with a multitude of freinds and colleagues, the day seems to go so quick.

This is the life I have taken her away from, I do feel guilty, as I have brought her to a life, of quiet days on her own, no one to talk to, if she does talk to anyone, its via telephone or internet, she gets out only when I take her, yes she does use the bus and goes to town, uses the tube, and gets around, its not that she wont go out on her own, most of her freinds are hundreds of miles away, I think maybe its the things I often write about for others, the lack of local community, its not like, your house door is open for all and sundry to wander in, 'Sit down..and eat with us...have pulutan, chat chat chat....." no there is none of that, it can be a lonely existence for a Filipina housewife in UK.

Is this the better life......I promised her, hmmmmm I wonder, when she was in the Philippines, she was happy, she ate out most days, she went to the mall for some retail therapy, it didnt matter whether she would purchase anything, that was not the object of her visit, at the mall you can do lots of things, you can browse the sales, with Girlfriends, have coffee at Bobs, maybe a Hungarian sausage, ice cream or Halo Halo, sit and chat the hours away, buy a few essentials, its warm outside, so no fear of being rained off, freezing your Royal nehs nehs, maybe pop into the cinema for a movie, costing only 60 pesos.

What about UK, hmmmmm it takes 45 minutes by car, to go to the mall, if you want to watch a movie its £6.50 per person, thats £13.00 for two of you, and most of the movies, I already saw in the Philippines for 60p why would I want to see them here for a hundred times more, a pal of mine took his Filipina wife and 2 Girls to a movie recently, the cost was £25.00 for the family, his wife could not beleive that we would spend that amount of money on a movie, thats P2400.00, for a movie, when you consider that you need around P300.00 a day for food, thats a major expense on what many there would consider to be a large waste of money.

I suppose we could say that if they can afford to distribute movies in the Philippines at 60 persos per head, then they can do it here also, but the marked difference in rip off Britain certainly does bring it home to you, we could all complain about the cost of living here, this is not the object of my post, its more to do with this mythical phrase

" A BETTER LIFE "

Pauldo, said recently in one of his posts, that his wife and him and the children used to look out of the window at the grey weather, and the houses, and wonder why did they come back here to live in UK"

I thought there was something very true about what he said, as we look out of our window, we certainly wont starve today, we have food, as much as want, we have a nice family car, we have nice toys in the house, we are ok, we are not rich, but we have a comofortable lifestyle, but I can t help feeling, that for the Filipina emigrant, it may not be so much about having the comforts of sustenance and covering, but more about quality of life, better life and quality of life, just do not have the same meaning for me.

When I was on my many trips to the Philippines, I used to feel a sense of happiness also out there, when you wake up, the sun is already up, and you have the feel good factor, I know in UK when the summer comes, we also get it here too, the weather can have a profound effect on the way you feel, but just lately I have noticed that I am fed up to the back teeth with watching for the ever increasing number of speed safety camera vehicles, every day when I am driving there seems to be more and more of them parked on overhead bridges, disguised as Gas vans and other vehicles in laybys, have you noticed them ?

I am so paranoid about them, I am constantly, watching for them, then there is the DVLA tax disc vans, they are appearing more and more, I was stopped recently by a Counterfit fuel inspection team on a local highway, to check if my fuel in the tank is counterfeit, now we have the Highways agency vehicles on patrol, they look like Police vehicles until you get up close.

The cost of living is slowly rising by he year, council tax bills are hiking as much as 300 per cent in some areas, there is talk of £3000.00 a year council tax bills, if we have to start paying £250.00 a month just to pay council tax, on top of rising accomodation costs, whether you are in a mortgage or a rented propery, the figures just dont compute anymore.

I looked at a propery last week with my honey, as we are considering buying a house, we looked at 2 bedroom house in a good area, we are now talking £200.000 to £250.000, at currernt mortgage rates of 4.9 to 6.5 percent, payments on a 25 year mortgage would equate to between £1000.00 to £1300.00 per calendar month, rentals of similar houses are around £650.00 to £850.00.

Petrol running now at 89p to 95p per litre when the petrol protests in 2001 were spiked by a rise to 80p a litire, now seem to be frightening.

Yes ok, the roads in the UK are maintained and in good order, yes we have NHS Treatment if we need it, but the last time I had an operation on my toe booked, they cancelled it 3 times, I had IGTN from July, the appointment was booked for October that year, when I complained that I was in excruciating pain, I had to drive with it for 4 months in that condition, they cancelled my operation 3 times until the following February, when it was finally carried out.

Is this the NHS we are all supposed to be paying for ??

In the Philippines I needed to have some work done on my teeth, I said to my honey, is it possible to see a dentist, ? she said yes, I will call them now for you, she said, oh you can go now for your appointment, so out of the office we went to the dentist, in 10 minutes I was in a dentists chair, having the relevant work carried out, the cost to me was P 350.00, this was for an hours work and consultation.

This equates to around £4.00 for that service, the treatment was excellent, and the Doctor even called me on my mobile to ask how I was, ????

I also needed to have my one of my ears looked at whilst on a recent trip to the Philippines, I told my honey that my left ear was hurting, so she said, we have to get that looked at today, so she called a Doctor's clerk, who promptly booked me for an appointment, I said to my honey "Will we have to see the GP first ?" she said no....I have booked you with an ear specialist today, ?? how many times in the UK, do we first have to go through a local GP before being referred to an ear speciliast ? or a Eye Specialist ? and then how easy is it to get an appointment ?

With my local GP I have to call his clerk, who has to know the inside of my ass before she will make an appointment, and then they say, oh...he cant see you today ? come next Thursday, such is our brilliant NHS Service that we are all paying for, and such is the better life we are all having in UK.

Going to see the Ear Specialist a Dr Arriola, was a complete eye opener for me, he not only solved my problem there and then, he lifted the offending cotton bud out, there and then, and gave me anti biotics, the cost of this service, P300.00 for an hours work again, barely around £3.50 in cost.

I dont know about you guys, but I am beginning to wonder about this better life business, the ECO's keep asking our girls when they go for interviews, whose better Life, theres or ours ?

My honey simply cannot understand why, we have to make an appointment to see a GP when clearly the GP will not be the best person to deal with, surely, if you have an ear problem, you will go to an ear specialist, or if you think you are diabetic, surely you go to a Diabetic clinic with a specilist Doctor who deals in internal medicine.

NOT SO IN THE UK'S LAND OF BETTER LIFE MY DEAR, OH NO, WE HAVE TO WAIT A WEEK TO SEE THE GP, THEN BE REFERRED TO A HOSPITAL, AND IF WE ARE LUCKY, WE MAY GET AN APPOINTMENT IN ABOUT 6 MONTHS TIME !!!.


So what about this better life business ??

Why is it that so many of us, are clamouring for a better life as we see it, in other countries, why is it, that we are constantly bombarded on Sky T.V. with programmes such as

No Going Back
Bangkok Bound
Escape to Paradise

I keep seeing small short progamme features every night, about Bangkok bound, escape to warmer climates, those sort of features, where couples keep saying " We wanted a better quality of life "

Does it not strike you as rather odd, that so many are clamouring to come to UK to have a better life, but why is it so many are clamouring to get out ?

In a recent survey conducted by Sky Travel over 100,000 people have been polled, over 75 per cent of those polled replied yes to the question, if you could afford it, would you emigrate to another country to have a better life ?

Favourite destinations were:

Vancouver Canada,
Italy
France
Spain
Thailand


it only goes to re-inforce what I have said previously, not every mans ideal better life is the same ? better life means different things to different people, that is why I resent so much ECO's saying to Girls from the Philippines,

"So you just wanted to go to UK for a better life "

I think one recent applicant was probably told the right thing, when an ECO said to her

"Why do you want to go UK, its freezing cold and too expensive ?"

At last, we have an ECO who tells it like it is....remember, better life can mean different things to different people.

I would be interested in anyones, serious contributions to this thread in the form of there own views and how they have found it since their girl arrived in UK.

Best wishes

Pete

[deepete]

Is this one of your better days then



I met my wife while she was here studying, even so, for the first 2 years she wouldnt go anywhere without me, visiting the doctor, dentist etc, but she now has a nice circle of friends, mostly filipino s with a few british as well.

You get sucked into life here when the children come along, Dee wont think of leaving until our boys finish their education. Costs here are awful, my council tax is £2400 a year, but thats what you get with an open door policy that has to be paid for. I personally would do away with all welfare benefits except health and schools.

Our newspapers are a disgrace, I dont want to know about what our troops are doing while fighting a war, dirty wars need dirty tactics, your too young to know how `Mad Mitch` and the Argyl and Southern highlanders sorted out Aden before the government got cold feet.

I will do what everone else comes here to do, take everything I can from the country and get on with my life cos I am really worried that the politicions have sold us down the river, not a man amongst them that will tell the scum to p--s off. Got to stop now as its getting to be a rant

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Feb 12 2006, 12:16 PM

Pauldo, said recently in one of his posts, that his wife and him and the children used to look out of the window at the grey weather, and the houses, and wonder why did they come back here to live in UK"

I thought there was something very true about what he said, as we look out of our window, we certainly wont starve today, we have food, as much as want, we have a nice family car, we have nice toys in the house, we are ok, we are not rich, but we have a comofortable lifestyle, but I can t help feeling, that for the Filipina emigrant, it may not be so much about having the comforts of sustenance and covering, but more about quality of life, better life and quality of life, just do not have the same meaning for me.

Quoted post

You're right, the sun makes a hell of a difference in the way our bodies feel. Once you've tasted it as an everyday certainty, it is just 'missing' when you move to the UK. I lived in Asia for thirteen years, and even started resenting the heat towards the end. When we moved to the UK I actually enjoyed the brisk chill of an early morning, rather than the gradual creeping sweat of a similar morning in the PI.

But, it didn't take long before the novelty wore off.

As for my wife, she is the one I felt sorry for, as I work away 6 out of every 12 weeks, so get chance to visit the sunny places, or just different places. She was the one stuck in the UK, no family, no friends, just my parents living nearby. It took maybe a year before she actually met any friends there. The first was an Indonesian girl, just a 100 yards down the road.

Now, nearly four years later, she knows about 20 Filipinos in just our small town alone. In fact, she has far more friends than I do. I know maybe a half dozen guys, and rarely see them. I'm often alone, but never lonely, whereas my wife is a Filipino, and they pine when they are alone, like a dog locked in a kennel. She always had our daughter for company, but conversation was limited.

My wife is at university studying nursing now, our daughter is in first year school, we also have my wifes mother living with us. Life is getting settled, but we still miss the sun, we miss the blue sky at 6am, the brightness of the afternoon, the dryness, the guarantee of warmth all day every day.

I'd love to move back to the PI, but simple logistics keep us in England for now: my wives uni, my daughters education, my job security, or lack of. If we moved back, and I lost my job, we'd be living on savings, for as long as it took to get more work, which might be a long time, in an industry that is being overrun, ironically, with young asian university graduates.

Nope, looks like we are stuck in the grey old UK for the foreseeable future.

But hey, summers coming :blink: :mellow: :mellow: :unsure:

[walesrob]

I'm a Sagittarius so I'm quite happy to live anywhere in the world :lol: even hot sticky Philippines.

Seriously though, on the question of Elsa adjusting to the UK, well she was lucky as she had worked and lived abroad in Oman and Hong Kong before, so it was not such a big deal. The main things she found hard to adjust to were the weather, the non-availability of some foods (especially Filipino and Chinese Food), and the fact that she was just so far away from Philippines - so far away as to being the other side of the world. I would say though, after being here for 11 months, Elsa really loves the UK, I dunno maybe its because we live in beautiful part of the UK where there is no (or very liitle) crime, where neighbours talk to you, where good manners and respect still exist and we have clean air and beautiful countryside. I'm afraid that if she sees the REAL UK, she'll change her mind, but so far so good....

If I won the lottery/inherited lots of money/robbed a bank, Elsa and I would be on the first plane out to either Spain or somewhere warm, even Tacloban, the cost of living in UK is getting silly, and the problem is worse here in West Wales, where the average hourly pay is £5.50 per hour and the average 2 bedroom house is £149 grand. You can see why Aberystwyth young people all move out by the time they reach 21 - no money, no future, no place to make some money, unless you've got money to invest in the first place, in which case the inland revenue will be very interested.

I can say for sure we will both be moving to Tacloban in the next 10-20 years once we've got the house built over there (imagine 2 semi-detached houses for only £5000 EACH!!! - that gets you half a static caravan here).

I've lived and worked in Spain and Malta, so making a switch to living in a foreign country would not be such a big deal. As long as theres some warm sunny weather, thats fine.

[Admin]

where neighbours talk to you, where good manners and respect still exist and we have clean air and beautiful countryside.

Same here.......at least it was till that bloody scouser moved in

[ginapeterb]

Hello PETE

s this one of your better days then

I did not write my peice on the basis of it being a bad day, in other words, its not a knee jerk reaction to that paticular day.

I think its a general trend of how I see things in this country, things seem to be creeping upon us, admittedly, the changes in road technologies, mean that more and more, we are being spied upon by overhead cameras, even on the M11 today I noticed a new style of overhead camera watching a 40 mile zone, roadworks and cones for miles, but no workers ? I can never understand why there needs to be temporary restrictions in place, when no work is being done ?

Its just a general trend of how I see the quality of life in the UK, to be frank, its not that much to talk about, ok, it could be worse I agree, there are far worse places than here, and we do have much to be grateful for, I'm not nocking what we have here, I love this country, I am passionate about our way of life, I am British English before anything, but I'm not sure if I would say, come here to UK for a better life, if watching No Going Back has taught me anything is, that people seem to be looking for utopia in other countries, that should tell you how people feel.

People migrating to Australia is a good example, I've known freinds do it, and some come back, and can't make the transition, others have gone and made good, its a gamble everyone has to take if they have the courage to take those great steps.

I think my post is about what constitutes a better life, of course as you said, your council tax is £2400.00 a year, its a joke di ba ? when you think about it, and we the public get no say in how that is spent, only through elected councillors, that none of us ever voted for ? and do not know ?

Council tax bills are set to rise again, for what ? I must admit, mine is less than yours, and I resent paying it, I pay £1000.00 per year, what makes me mad so much, is that I know that London is full of people who pay nothing, and yet reap the profits of being anonymous, I am not saying that some people aren not entitled to some help in the form of benefits, but fewer and fewer types of benefit go to those who have worked in this country.

When I read recently, that although Abu Hamza has been jailed for 7 years, his wife and children will still continue to receive £680.00 in benefits, funded by the working taxpayers of this country, it is this kind of abuse that really tells me - Why would anyone want to live in this system.

This is an Egyptian National, wanted by Egyptian Authorities, who wants to live under the protection of the United Kingdom, but clearly hates the British people, why is it, that we tolerate people living under our protection, enjoying the tax free money they obtain from the local DSS, and then pour scorn and demand the deaths of the people who provide it, they are of course enemies of the state, pure and simple, the trouble with our pandering political elite, is that they have not got the stomach nor the conviction to act to rid our country of these enemies of the state.

So back to this better life business, actually Pete, I do remember the Colonel Mitchell, and the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders in Aden, the story was on Sky Documentary's recently, I saw the whole thing, before the Governemnt decided to pull out anyway, Didnt Colonel Mitchell say, they needed to be taught a lesson, because if we allowed this, it was an embarassment for the British Armed Forces all over the world.

I've served this country for 9 years, like Keith and many others, Ive put my time in, this country simply isnt the country it was back in the 70's, its changed, masses of Eastern European migration has changed it, now, I hear more and more people saying to me, I just come here to work, get what I can and get out, when the time is right, with attidues like this that prevail, that isn't much of an advertisement for cool Brittania Mr Blair is it ?

I was born here in England, I joined the Army at 16, I served until I was 23, I beleived in this country, I said to my wife the other day " I am just here now with you to work, save our money, and get out by the time I am 50, we can go back to Philippines and live a quieter stress free life, if we do the hard work now"

Please don't poo poo what I say, I've heard this so many times, not just from idealists, from freinds, colleagues, and business people, nobody seems to care anymore, no one checks with their neighbour to see if they are ok ?

Someone could collapse in the street, and people would just walk by and not want to get involved, if someone is attacked, they wont get much help, people are too afraid, they may charged with offences just because they tried to go to the aid of a victim.

Some would say, the country has gone barmy, that basically translated, means the values you and I used to hold dear, are no longer in existence, there are only 2 things you can do, evolve and become just like them, or bide your time, bend with the wind when it blows, and kiss ass until you can kick it, then quietly leave for your better life, when no one is looking.

[deepete]

Hey Pete,

I think I know where your coming from as I have been unsettled for years.The country has lost most of the values that made it stand out from rest and what I cant get my head around is why people like myself let it happen without a fight.

I nearly bought a business in Spain but after visiting decided it wasnt for me. Now I`m looking at New Zealand or Australia and may visit on my own to get a feel of the place, but at my age it will be difficult to be granted a permanent visa, I may be able to buy my way in though. My wife and children would also need convincing.

I`ve taken the liberty of posting something I found on another site that is thought provoking about the possible future in the P.I.

"
Which raises an interesting question. What if the muslim extremists do rise in the Philippines and start getting very nasty? The PAF is having a hard time dealing with them now, low morale, poor leadership and of course the absence of real leadership for the entire country. What if the MILF and Abu Sayyaf and JI really start slinging bombs around? First to go would be foreigners in Mindanao, nice and close. Then Cebu, just a ferry ride away and bring the gear in via banka. Off to Boracay and hit a few Europeans then Manila!

Angeles might no longer be spared as the R&R playground of suicide bombers waiting their call and Fields Avenue could be ablaze or deserted after a few hand grenades get tossed about. If they then went and hunted down each and every foreigner living in the provinces and beheaded them, leaving the locals alone.....what then? If they could argue the Filipino troops were dying just to protect the Kanos exploiting their country they might turn public opinion away from using the PAF to fight the terrorists, after all, no Filipino is being targeted!

I would do it like that. Pick only on soft, undefended foreigner targets, spare their wives and kids and be very specific with who gets killed. Isolate the foreign community and wind up the nationalists to help keep the US military away. If they landed, melt away for a year or so, then sneak back and resume, always foreigners, never Filipinos.

Meanwhile all through SE Asia the same thing is going on. I would bet money the non terrorist locals would sooner see the backs of foreigners then spill their own blood defending us in their countries, esecially those whose economy doesn't depend on us being there. Food for thought. " :blink:

By the way I live very close to the start of the M11, did you know that the speed camera on the M11 coming into London near Woodford is the largest (or was) revenue gatherers in the UK.

[fred]

Pete.
Really excellent posts.. Encapsulates most of the things that I have felt for 20 odd years..Nothing changes,except good ole blighty just gets worse and a damn sight more expensive!!
My wife came from a pretty poor family and her life from a westerners perspective looked pretty miserable back then..
Thing is,why were they all so damned happy? What gave them the right to smile and laugh so often whilst coping with such poverty day in day out?
I often think back to my Grandmother when she used to tell me of "how things used to be" in England.. "We may of been poor,but at least we were happy" speech..
"Yeah yeah Gran,I know!! You tell me on a weekly basis".."Blah blah..
The thing is though,the expression on her face (whilst she droned on about life in England in the 20`s) showed she genuinley meant every word..
These days much of what she used to tell me always rings true when Im in provincial asia..In some ways its like going through a time portal (backwards).

There is the grim side to consider though..

For 15 years,My Mrs never complained about her life in the U.K and she could never understand why a lot of Brits (including me) would whine and moan about our country when it had so much to offer..Free education,heath care and so on..
Dont forget,that a visit to the dentist for 350 pesos may seem cheap to us,but for an unemployed Filipino with a family to feed it is a luxury that will have to wait..If the pain gets too bad then the only thing to do is pay the local hilot P20.00 to pull the offending teeth out with a pair of pliers..If something goes wrong,he is on his own..
You try going to a doctor or dentist there when you are in real pain with no money to pay him..The sympathy ends right there..
When the Mrs had our 3rd child delivered 7 years back in a private hospital in quezon province I was told she had a 50/50 chance of life..Although the baby was fine,the wife had lost a lot of blood.. It was 3 Oclock in the morning and the nurse told me Id need to find some blood for her.. I asked her "where was the blood bank"? Nearest was in Lucena about 2 hours away.. I asked to use the phone to find a donor with her blood type but the nurse told me that I would have to use the "outside phone" as it was only for hospital staff..(There was no outside phone available) No one in that hospital lifted a finger to help me apart from my bro in laws that managed to get a blood donor..BTW..Most of the nurses (I counted 5)were asleep in one of the wards..
My daughter was put in a general ward with 30 odd patients with ailments like typhoyd fever etc with no one lookin after her,so I had to carry her around with me till morning..
I could go on but it just gets more depressing.


To this day I still moan and complain about the UK with all its newly found politically correct types ,the price of petrol,council tax ,my ignorant neighbours,the weather,THE PRICE OF PETROL the "bloody foreigners taking my jobs",Tony"the poodle Blair" etc and will probably join the great British exudus in a year or two,but Its still a nice feeling to know that England is still here when ever I need her..

Cheers..
Fred.

[Admin]

Free education,heath care and so on..

FREE Has she worked out how much tax we pay, compared to the rest of the world?

I started a Limited compnay last Sept, I'm now £225 a week worse off!!

[fred]

Originally posted by admin@Feb 21 2006, 11:13 AM
FREE Has she worked out how much tax we pay, compared to the rest of the world?

I started a Limited compnay last Sept, I'm now £225 a week worse off!!

Quoted post

I agree with you 100%.

[Eljohno]

Hi Fred,

i have traveled quite a lot with my previous employer (Drop Inn @ bottom of my posts) and been to places like West Africa, Belarus, Ukraine, Albania & of course the Philippines and i learn that no matter how much people complain about the Uk, compared to these places it is luxury. The African people (Especially the children) were running about with hardly any clothes on or had little food but they were very happy in their circumstances. In Albania they were very poor but the main difference between the 2 countries was that Albania had more excess to tv and they were able to see what they were missing out on and so became more discontent. Were the African people i met never knew anything else. I have visited some hospitals that were too awful to even write about. Many countries i have visited are in the trouble they are in because of corrupt leaders.

I do like living here in N.Ireland although i am not completely happy with the way it is run but i am glad i have access to a good dentist, hospital etc. But in the next maybe 3-5 years i will be selling up and going back with my wife to the Philippines as i have fallen in love with the place and the people i have had the pleasure in meeting...




John

[fred]

Hi again John..

Like you say , in a lot of ways we are really lucky to be from the affluent west and must somtimes seem like perpetual moaners and whingers to others from 3rd world countries with real problems to contend with..
I really wish you luck with your plans to move to warmer climes in a few years..Who knows..Perhaps we can share a case or 2 of SMB one day in paradise!!
Bloody hell!! SMB is £7.00 a case now !! I remember the good ole days when a case was only 60 Pesos!!
Whats the world coming to?? :(

[JustSomeGuy]

I can't help sometimes thinking people read "Fun Papers" too much, To quote a good friend "I'm too busy to have my own opinions, I let The Sun make them for me"

No **** it costs a lot to house a family on benefits, a government sold off all 'our' houses to people who had no chance of paying the mortgage, then had to re-house them, and guess what? couldn't stop them repeating the same process again and again, now the housing stock is owned by people who don't give two figs for the tenants and can charge the government/tax payers almost whatever they want! (been there done that..) if we get the odd nutter then, better that than 'good people' dying because we have shut our doors like kids pretending we're not home.

Average wage is massively skewed by the top 5% earners, real avg wage is more like 16K than 24K. btw the minum wage for most workers in phils is £3 a day... including dentists. To get a like for like try multiplying prices by 7 or 8 to see what things really cost.

Knowing a few people who have been hit by cars/mugged or suffered strokes and can't afford private treatment means I appreciate the NHS, far too many people can't afford insurance... Yes mistakes happen, I know, i've made a few at work, who hasn't ?

Houses cost too much? that's ok just build some more...oh, no we can't, people moan "too many here already" really thinking "my house might be worth less if they build more" not that people really get to make real money on the house they live in unless escaping to sunnier places, downgrading or of course a loved one dies.

How many times have you been held up on public transport in the UK? once? maybe if you're unlucky. In Manila it's normal, I'll hear of a friend getting held up once a year at least. oh and yes hospital isn't great there... '1st' world countries keep nicking all the well trained nurses and doctors...

Yes we pay tax, and yes i know because I pay a truck load of tax(have a ltd too), Yes people come to our country hoping for a better life, but they pay far more in taxes than receive in benefits, just be thankful we didn't have to pay to educate them. (btw birth rate is just 1.8 in the uk not 2.4 i need someone to pay for my old age too)

Sorry started to rant 'a little', oh and yes i do check on my older neighbours if i haven't seen them for some time, I've lived in a fair few places, from "top class" to "could do better" right now, think burnt out cars, but well moaning seems a national sport, shame it's not an Olympic event, "the downhill whinge" might win for once.

Oh and yes i would like to live in the phils it's a great place, but i know which side my bread is buttered.

What's was that song?..."lets all look on the bright side of life"

Dave,

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by JustSomeGuy@Feb 22 2006, 12:42 AM
Sorry started to rant 'a little', oh and yes i do check on my older neighbours if i haven't seen them for some time, I've lived in a fair few places, from "top class" to "could do better" right now, think burnt out cars, but well moaning seems a national sport, shame it's not an Olympic event, "the downhill whinge" might win for once.

Oh and yes i would like to live in the phils it's a great place, but i know which side my bread is buttered.

What's was that song?..."lets all look on the bright side of life"

Dave,

Quoted post

Everything you say is true, but most ofl the people you'll hear moaning ABOUT the UK, who live IN the UK, have no real idea quite what they are talking about.

I feel lucky to be able to have looked deeply at the situation from both sides, having lived in Thailand for a year, Singapore for two and the Philippines for nearly ten, plus worked in or traveled through some 35 other countries: I've looked at life from both sides now ( to quote the Carpenters song) and I can tell you officialy and unequivocally, the grass really IS greener on the other side :lol:

[spike71]

greetings to all , i agree with peter , its my first time to work outside the phil. i miss the weather ,friends , foods , megamalls etc. although i have my family here with me . but still bored @ times ,and during winter times oh dear &#33; tell me about it , if i&#39;m going to be operated i will travel to phil. instead of waiting for months , i liked the people here they are very polite . government is very good . less corruption . but still theres no place like home. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/BouncyHappy.gif[/img]

[peterjanik]

Hi to everybody &#33;

I am from Slovakia and therefore knows what you are talking about.
In my country it is quite similar and i can&#39;t just understand how is it possible
that here in england many neighbours don&#39;t even talk to each other.
In my country similar as in Philippines all neighbours know each other
and find their time to visit each other once a time.
Everyone just care more about each other. Here everone is going after work
and can&#39;t even find a time that would spend with his/her family what i can&#39;t
understand at all. What is the point of having a family then. And i am very sorry
for the children because they will never know what is it true love recieved from their
mum. I hope you agree that nanny can never replace their mum.

As you already said, we more talk to each other only through internet or over the phone
and this is one of the things i am worried for my girlfirend. She is not here yet, but once
she comes i want her to be with people as well,and make her feel like at home.
Therefore i am already trying to find somebody,
so once she come she will have already some good friends (and especially some filipina friends
that she will be able talk to).

But we are guilty as well. We criticise the system but will not do anything about it.
So tell me, if you really miss somebody to talk to, why we waste time with writing
these messages here, and why we don&#39;t visit each other ? Instead of time spent here
writing a message can be nicely converted into time spent with someone in real.
And i think it can give us much more.
I am the person who always trying instead of criticising do the real things and therefore
not to do the same mistake as others, i am not going only to criticise it but i am giving an
suggestion really to make a change &#33;

I am wiling and will be happy to meet anyone of you &#33;
I am in London and think, it would be very nice if all members of this website from London
would meet, and know each other personally.

So Pete and others, if you really feel that your wife is missing something what had in philippines,
why don&#39;t you create it for her here &#33; We can do it, and if we just cry, it will not help us at all.

I know i am new here and therefore it is going to look very bad (and i am going to feel really stupid),
that it&#39;s me who is goin to start this very straight.
But if i don&#39;t do it then we are not going to move anywhere, and if i just wait for the right moment
then we are only going to waste a time.

So if anyone is interested in making new friends (especially with couples where one is from philippines)
and anyone is interested to meet with me you can either write me at peterjanik@gmail.com or call
me to 077 255 048 69

YOU DOESN"T NEED TO REPLY ME AT ALL BUT PEOPLE PLEASE DON"T JUST SIT AT HOME AT START TO CONTACT EACH OTHER &#33; AT THE END OF THE DAY WE WILL NOT NEED TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC AT ALL &#33;

P.S. If nobody wants to meet me than i will take it, but i would be really happy if you can do it for my
girlfriend. The fact is that i do this much more for her then for my self, because i have no problem
with living alone. SO PLEASE DO IT FOR HER &#33; I love her so much and want only the best for her.

Anne &#33; (my girlfriend)
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT &#33;&#33;&#33;
I PROMISE HERE IN FRONT OF ALL THAT I WILL DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU JUST TO MAKE YOU HAPPY &#33;

[Eljohno]

Hi Peter,

welcome to the forum, and while i agree of course it is good to meet up with people and make new friends sometimes that is not easy as people on this forum live all over the UK and the distance can be a problem but i am sure if there are people on the forum who live in London something can be organised.

I have been to Slovakia on two occasions and the group of people i was with loved it there...






John

[Admin]

The problem we have in the West is, we have everything, we get everything, life is easy, apart from day to day work we have bugger all to do, money is easy to get even if you don&#39;t have any&#33;........so nothing left but for us all too be miserable gits [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif[/img]

[Eljohno]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(admin &#064; Mar 14 2006, 04&#58;29 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
The problem we have in the West is, we have everything, we get everything, life is easy, apart from day to day work we have bugger all to do, money is easy to get even if you don&#39;t have any&#33;........so nothing left but for us all too be miserable gits [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]


Being miserable is a choice that people make&#33;&#33; [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img]

[Admin]

Finding it difficult to be grumpy today with the Cheltenham results going my way [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/BouncyHappy.gif[/img]

[mupsuit]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(admin &#064; Mar 14 2006, 05&#58;57 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Finding it difficult to be grumpy today with the Cheltenham results going my way [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/BouncyHappy.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]


Who were Cheltenham playing ?

[peterjanik]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eljohno &#064; Mar 14 2006, 04&#58;16 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I have been to Slovakia on two occasions and the group of people i was with loved it there...
John
[/b][/quote]

I am really happy to hear, when someone writes that he liked it in Slovakia.

P.S. Of course i ment to meet only people from the same city &#33;
And i am sure you can meet as well somebody who is from your city &#33;

I am new here so i dont know if it is here (i couldnt find it yet) , but it would be
good to have some complete list of members with their locations, as it is on asawa forum.

And to be honest i miss chat on this forum. I don t know how difficult it is to make it, but i am
sure the chat would increase popularity of this site at least by 50 %. If you had some purpose
not to have chat here then take my apologies.

P.S. Some of you writes that this problem is because of very easy life. But don&#39;t forget that we
are the ones who are choosing what type of life we want, and we are the ones who can make
our lives exactly as we wants. Btw. The easier life is, the easier it should be for people to have
time for each other. Or am i wrong ?

Peter

[Eljohno]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(peterjanik &#064; Mar 14 2006, 05&#58;56 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>

And to be honest i miss chat on this forum. I don t know how difficult it is to make it, but i am
sure the chat would increase popularity of this site at least by 50 %. If you had some purpose
not to have chat here then take my apologies.



Peter
[/b][/quote]

A chatroom for the forum is something that i had thought about also but i do not know enough about how to go about it or the work/cost involved but i am sure Pete, Keith etc would know if its possible or not.

[Admin]

We have a ChatRoom

Just login, and change the room to Filipino UK

[Eljohno]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(admin &#064; Mar 14 2006, 09&#58;35 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
We have a ChatRoom

Just login, and change the room to Filipino UK
[/b][/quote]







Did not know there was one here, will i need a new name & password for this as i tried the one i have for here and it did not work.....

[Admin]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eljohno &#064; Mar 14 2006, 10&#58;31 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Did not know there was one here, will i need a new name & password for this as i tried the one i have for here and it did not work.....
[/b][/quote]
Obviously [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Doh.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] Different script. If you call in on a Sunday night 6pm, all the Win2Win Sim boys are there.

[yogurts]

So good reading other people&#39;s views of the rising costs of the UK,i have felt for many years that i would like to live in another country due to this fact,and after spending so much time in the philippines last year with my new wife really opened up my eyes on how dull ( weather wise) and unfriendly most people are in the UK,compared to other countries that i have visited especially the philippines.

My wife has only just come to live in the UK at the start of January,so all is so fresh for her still,in a word my wife is loving every minute of her life here,but even she has noticed how expensive and soooo cold it is here,i think within in time she will feel like i feel that there are better countries to live and raise a family.

There is one question thou i like to ask any member is, my wife is on a 2 year settlement visa can she travel to other countries now or is she only able to travel back and forth to philippines ? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif[/img]

[walesrob]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(yogurts &#064; Mar 24 2006, 10&#58;08 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>


There is one question thou i like to ask any member is, my wife is on a 2 year settlement visa can she travel to other countries now or is she only able to travel back and forth to philippines ? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]

The 2 year settlement visa only covers UK. She is free to travel elsewhere subject of course to other countries allowing visa-free stay for Filipinos - for example, Hong Kong allow 14 days. If she wants to travel to Europe, she will need to apply for a Schengen Visa, but this does cover ALL mainland Europe countries.

During the 2 year Settlement Visa period, she will be allowed to travel out of the UK for a maximum period of 3 or 6 months at a time (can someone else confirm this - I&#39;m sure its 6)

HTH

[ginapeterb]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(walesrob &#064; Mar 24 2006, 10&#58;45 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
The 2 year settlement visa only covers UK. She is free to travel elsewhere subject of course to other countries allowing visa-free stay for Filipinos - for example, Hong Kong allow 14 days. If she wants to travel to Europe, she will need to apply for a Schengen Visa, but this does cover ALL mainland Europe countries.

During the 2 year Settlement Visa period, she will be allowed to travel out of the UK for a maximum period of 3 or 6 months at a time (can someone else confirm this - I&#39;m sure its 6)

HTH
[/b][/quote]


Thats partially correct Rob, not much in it, she can only be absent from UK for a total of 90 during the 2 year period prior to applying for Indefinate leave to remain.

Just to let you know also Rob, got G&#39;s passport back this afternoon, after I pulled a sneaky and parked outside the embassy and nipped in quick, picked up passport and did a quicker runner out to the car and b......rd off.

[yogurts]

Thankyou for your quick reply,we are planning to visit my wifes sister in Italy around August time,so thanks again for all the information. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]