That is probably a sensitive topic in the Philippines. Most of their forests have been stripped and there are strict laws on the cutting of the hardwood. We wanted to bring some Narra wood down from the farm in the mountains but if we were caught we would have been in big trouble. That was for use in our own house. I don't think I have ever handled a more heavy wood than the Narra wood.

The deptocarps (luan, and other so-call Philippine Mahoganies) are not generally available here in Iloilo, nor elsewhere in the Philippines as far as I know. Nara, probably the best wood in the Philippines, is generally unavailable. It is a protected species and illegal to cut, even on your own land without a special permit. True (Honduran) mahagony is widespread, having been introduced by the Spaniards and is common along the roads and naturalized in the low-land forests. My door frames are made with teak, handmilled by chainsaw and finished by my engineer. My exposed rafters are made of acacia. This is quite available and is a lovely wood with a beautiful grain. It cost me 19 pesos per board foot, chainsaw milled and unfinished (rough). Nara is the furniture wood of choice, when available, but I really like the acacia. I had some local ""pros"" chainsaw mill some mahogany for me for five peso per board foot. I don't know what it would cost you through a dealer.

I am Australian and my wife is Vietnamese/Filipino. She was born in Siagon and moved to Phils when she was 3 years old. Her Mother is Viet and her Father is Filipino. We married in Manila Sept 2001 and she arrived here March 2002. We would like to return to Phils and start a bakery business and would like advice in the road ahead of us! She had a tempory spouse visa here and can get permanent status either in Sept 2003 or when the baby is born in June this year. ( oh yeah, forgot to mention the wife is expecting!) We would both appreciate any feedback.

I have only just subscribed to this group this week and already benifiting from other peoples experience...still wading through the sveral hundred emails...dont you guys sleep? I am on the scrounge for advice and appreciate any information anyone can give me. I visited the RP last year and I feel in love with a Philipina from Pangasinan whom could be the answer to my dreams (or nightmare from the stories I have read) Problem is, she is married with two children! Can anyone tell me what is the process for her to get an anulment, how much does it cost and how long does it take? Is it true you have to wait for the youngest child to reach 7yrs before the application can be made?

I am a single guy, never married, who is about to bust at the britches cause I want to marry a Filipina gal so bad! I just tried the e-mail correspondence thing with 3 gals I met through a dating service via the net. I went over to the Phils in early January 2003 to meet all 3 of them, and guess what? NONE of them panned out! Not because of them, but because of my picky standards. I'm looking for a woman with the following 3 basic qualities. Must be a protestant Christian (not a church of christ or catholic). Must have a bachelors degree of some sort. Must preferably be 5' 3"" or taller, and slender. Is this asking too much from the world, or am I being reasonable here? If the latter, I NEED SOME SERIOUS ADVICE ON HOW TO GO ABOUT PULLING THIS MATCH OFF! Is there a better service out there than asian friend finder? Let me know!

helloo iam french men - i know style live in thailande - last 3 years - now i will try for some time in philipinnes how i will do for living less cost and middle time - 2 month still 6 months what is the best for staying beteween 2 months still 6 or more ? rent temporaly home ? studio ? hotel ? how for connection notebook in internet ? what i need ( papers ? ) for extension visa every 2 months? thank you

You have a point there for me if i made a mistake to make a commitment to a guy and been stranded in the US i would rather to choose to go back home. If i had a good intention and the guy i choose has turn his back to me that is his loss not mine. All human being are not perfect we have to understand that if we accept someone we also accept all of his/her in perfections, we made a mistake yes but that is where we get our lessons in life. Because the most important thing to a relationship is love and respect and the right intentions toward each other with that they can survive in any trial that they face. Just add my 2 cents.

HELLO TO ALL. ANYBODY FROM IRIGA OUT THERE? RETIRED US NAVY LOOKING FOR INFO RE GOING HOME FOR ""GOLDEN YEARS"" IS IT SAFE TO BRING USA WIFE. HOW ARE MEDICARE CASES HANDLED THERE? WOULD LIKE TO INTERNET WITH FELLOW IRIGENOS.

Just joined this group tonight and this is my first post. Not even sure how I check for answers... but here goes. I would appreciate any help I can get from expats living now in Cebu City, Mandaue or Mactan with regards to housing for rent. As you know if you live there, they don't advertize in the local classifieds under ""houses for rent"". Perhaps one of you lives now in a compound, or a condo development.. or any residential area.. where you note a sign up ""for rent"". I'm living NOW in Angeles City, Pampanga.. and, at the end of my lease, in two months, wish to relocate to the Cebu City area. All I can find on the web is rather pricey stuff like the City Lites Garden condos. Very nice place... and I'd love to live there... but 40,000 to 50,000 pesos is a bit much for me. Anybody with info on a nice place I can get for under 15,000 per month would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately Medicare benefits are not available to US citizens overseas. They should be. It might save the government money as medical care costs are usually much lower outside the US. Now we have to fly home for expensive treatment under Medicare. I've never been to Iriga but hear that it's beautiful.

If you are refering to Iriga, Camarines Sur we pass through the area on our way home in Sorsogon. Can't really give you much comment on the area as we have never stopped. But I can comment on your health question. You can't use Medicare outside the U.S. closest place is Guam. However, since you are retired USN you can use Tri-care Standard if you're under age 65 and Tri-care for Life if 65 or older. There is also supplemental insurance available for a reasonalble premium to pay your co-pay and deductable. Check out the RAO Subic website for more info. Also if you have a service connected disability rating you can use the VA facilty in Manila. Hope this info is of help to you. I'm retired USN also.

You will find some hotels or apartelles (I will refer to Cebu City here) where you can rent a room for anywhere up to P18,000 per month or above. I think at Golden Peak the rate for a room for a month starts at about P10,000 per month. Housing/hotels seem to cost more in RP than in Thailand. Try www.asiatravel.com for some more ideas on long term rentals; that would probably represent the high end and you can probably do cheaper. I think renting a house might tie you in for 1 year. You would need your passport and possibly some photos, plus the P2,000 to P2,500 fee to renew your visa. I wouldn't worry about connecting your laptop, you can use the IC's PC's and connection speeds are pretty good. If you really wish to use your laptop in an IC, I'm sure you can work something out with them, especially if they know that you'll be a repeat customer over several months.

I went through the annulment process here in the PI. My Lawyer filed my Petition for Nullity of Marriage during the first quarter of 1999. The court hearing started by 2nd quarter of 1999, which I of course attended, but only once. Since I have a daughter, she was interviewed by a Social Worker from the DSWD-(needed by the court as a basis for custody rights). Court Hearing of my case ended by the last quarter of the same year to be specific, Dec99. By 1st quarter of 2000, the Court Decision was released, I was awarded custody of my daugter (then 9 years old). By mid 2000 I received the Certificate of Finality, (As written: Court declares petition ""Final and Executory""). After all these... I made sure I secured copies of the Annotated Marriage Certificate issued on NSO(National Statistics Office)paper. Annotated Marriage Certificate very important so there will be no record of marriage anymore at NSO. If you have more questions..I will be happy to share whatever info I know on the subject. Chat is easier, do you have ICQ or yahoo messenger just eamil me and we can schedule a session....

I haven't read all the replies on this thread, so maybe this has already been said, but the man who brought the woman to the US is legally responsible for all of her expenses while in the US, including return airfare. The can and will be enforced by the Dept. of Justice if it is brought to their attention. Anyone who applies for a Fiance Visa must sign an affidavit of support before the visa is issued. This is a matter that is taken very seriously by the INS, and there is no need to take up a collection to buy her a ticket. She just needs to contact the nearest INS office and explain what happened. She might also contact the nearest Philippine Embassy or Consulate. BTW, it is true that if she gets legally married to anyone while she is in the States, even if it isn't the one who applied for the visa, she can stay.

Anybody with info on a nice place I can get for under 15,000 per month would be greatly appreciated.I am no expert on Cebu, I have only been here 6+ months but I only know one person who is spending over 15,000 a month on rent and he's in one of them fancy condo's you mentioned that are so pricy. You can find something nice for 15,000 or less you just need to get here and take a look for yourself and who knows maybe if you give us who live in Cebu City a date and time when you plan on getting here we can help.

My wife had an annulment when her child was quite young. But there is no one answer. Her neighbor was an attorney and she was good friends with the barrio captain those things made a big difference. It cost about 25,000 Pesos but that is very untypical. It can be expensive and depends on a lot of facts that most outsiders don't understand. Sometimes the husband will sign the papers and sometimes might want a little ""incentive"" to sign the papers. I have heard of more than one case where the signature might not have been from the husband but who knows. It can be easy it can be very hard. Nothing is clear cut in the Philippines when it comes to the legal system.

I have only just subscribed to this group this week and already benifiting from other peoples experience...still wading through the sveral hundred emails...dont you guys sleep? I am on the scrounge for advice and appreciate any information anyone can give me. I visited the RP last year and I feel in love with a Philipina from Pangasinan whom could be the answer to my dreams (or nightmare from the stories I have read) Problem is, she is married with two children! Can anyone tell me what is the process for her to get an anulment, how much does it cost and how long does it take? Is it true you have to wait for the youngest child to reach 7yrs before the application can be made?

Just joined this group tonight and this is my first post. Not even sure how I check for answers... but here goes. I would appreciate any help I can get from expats living now in Cebu City, Mandaue or Mactan with regards to housing for rent. As you know if you live there, they don't advertize in the local classifieds under ""houses for rent"". Perhaps one of you lives now in a compound, or a condo development.. or any residential area.. where you note a sign up ""for rent"". I'm living NOW in Angeles City, Pampanga.. and, at the end of my lease, in two months, wish to relocate to the Cebu City area. All I can find on the web is rather pricey stuff like the City Lites Garden condos. Very nice place... and I'd love to live there... but 40,000 to 50,000 pesos is a bit much for me. Anybody with info on a nice place I can get for under 15,000 per month would be greatly appreciated.

In fact, apartment and house rentals are advertised in the newspaper classified ads here in Cebu City. The newpaper with the most listings is the Cebu Sun Star. They usually have 40 or 50 rental ads each issue. You can even peruse them on-line. Go to www.sunstar.com.ph/, scroll down the page and click on ""classifieds"" about half-way down on the left side, then click on ""real estate"". Ocassionally the classified pages will not load, if they don't, just try again later. It was through the Sun Star classifieds in January that I found the duplex I am living in. There is no doubt you can get a nice place here for 15,000 per month or less. I am paying 12,000 per month for mine. It is a three bedroom duplex in an upscale neighborhood in Mid-town Cebu city.

What are you interested in teaching? You might want to look at universities as well as at elementary and secondary schools. Many of the professors in universities have only bachelors unlike many American schools where most if not all have PhD's. I warn you though, the pay is not to western standards. Indeed, many professors who get their PhDs leave to for higher-paying jobs elsewhere. They also teach in English. My fiancee is a professor in the Philippines and when I get there in a few months, I may have a job teaching American History and/or politics, for which I am not particularly qualified outside of being an American, a history buff and a professional political organizer for ten years. E-mail me off list if I can be of any help.

hi! some members might be of help. been looking for info on Bicol particularly Legazpi, Naga and Donsol...any secrets/tips on places to visit aside from the usual found on the net? been eyeing butanding (whale sharks)spotting in Donsol. any updates on pricing for a half-day tour? boat, spotter, guide? be there next month. already have tickets to legazpi and proceed to donsol which is about an hour away. salamat po ng marami!

If you are outside PI you could searched at any Philippine consulate website and click on passport and they will give all the information regarding acquiring, renewing or amending of passport. If you're in Uk it's www.philemb.co.uk that is where I got all the info I needed or you could go to our foreign office which is www.dfa.gov.ph i am not sure about this website address but give it a try it has all the info you needed.

Hi I am wondering if any one can help me as I have to return to Oz on may 24 and leave Alicia for 3 months as her visa will be another 7 months ,She would like to share a room or pay board ,but I want her to besafe with a pal.Her boss used to call her good old Alicia as she would always jump in to help,she loves fun ,is a good church goer and would never tell a lie .She wants to stay around Cebu eg. Talisay ,Maninganililia,Danaue etc.

hi folks, i have been a member now for a while and it seems i am having problems posting, any ideas?? i will be in cebu city in three days and i would love to meet some new friends.

You wrote in the homepage that you should never have an affair with your maids or house helpers. Can you tell me why not? Now I am saying that if you are single and living in Cebu or Manila or wherever in the RP, and you have house staff, whats wrong with messing around protectively of course if they are willing partners. Now for everyone I am not talking force or bribery, I am just simply talking to consenting adults having fun, one which happens to be the employer. Any one have any commets or experiencies with this?