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I agree... I agree that I am stupid! VERY VERY STUPID in fact!! I was stupid enough to trust the guy sitting next to me on a jeep in the Philippines when any Filipino would tell you not to trust the guy sitting next to you on a jeep in the Philippines - Not even if, (as was the case with the punk that robbed me,) he looks decently dressed, well-fed and has a pleasant, smiling demeanor. Filipinos don't trust people they don't know - and ESPECIALLY NOT in public jeeps. I did - and that was STUPID, STUPID, STUPID of me! However, I am not so stupid as to think that we don't have pick-pockets and thieves in the UK - or any other country in the world, for that matter. I am also NOT so stupid as to think that all Filipinos are thieves. I don't think that for one second - and nowhere in my previous posts on this subject did I even imply that - let alone be stupid enough as to actually make such a stupid and obviously ridiculous statement. No. The only moral to this story for foreigners, whilst they are guests of this wonderful country; is to learn from the people around them and keep their hands tightly on their wallets at all times. The pouch thing that fits on my belt seems like a bloody good idea to me - although I have to say that I WILL be fitting a miniature padlock to the zipper for whenever it contains any substantial amount of money and that any thieving bastard who tries to steal it from me by force WILL have to kill me first! They can keep the other wallet that I mentioned below... The one for my small change and a few fake 1,000 peso bills!!

I have bought a wallet that sits on my belt. Once it is on, the only way of removing it would be to either cut it of - or remove my belt. It also takes a small pad-lock! The only way any thieving bastard in this or any other country is going to get that off me is to kill me first! I got my old wallet back - minus the cash, of course - after it was discovered discarded in another jeep on a different route to the one I was on when I had it stolen. I am going to keep that one for my small change. But I am also going to fill it with fake 1,000 peso bills... And guess what I am going to write on the bills? In VERY big letters... "FUCK YOU!" Have a great day - And DON't get robbed in the Philippines!

Wait! There's more...!! I sold 100,000 pesos worth (about US$ 2,000) of paintings by a Filipino artist that I hadn't been able to shift for 2 or 3 years. I let the paintings go to a dealer for only 40,000 pesos because I needed the money and my own paintings are starting to take up more and more space in my little house. I'd been looking after my neighbor's pit bull terrier bitch, called Shoubi, for the last year - to save her from being confined in the tiny cage that her (now previous) owners were trying to keep her in. I don't know if they thought she was a rabbit or something??!? Anyway... The very day after I'd sold the paintings, Shoubi's previous owners decided that they needed to sell here. They took the dog back and there she was looking VERY pitiful in her tiny little cage, in the heat of the noon-day sun again... It just so happened that having just sold those paintings, I actually had enough money to buy her. I paid 10,000 pesos for the dog and I had a proper shelter (constructed of steel) made for her in my front yard - for when I am away... (she sleeps in the house when I am at home...) The day after I bought Shoubi, I was on my way to the local supermarket, (a two minute jeepney ride,) had my wallet with the remaining 27,000 pesos stolen. (See my previous entry, below, on this topic) Talk about timing! Had Shoubi's previous owners decided to sell her one day earlier - or one day later, there is absolutely no way I'd have been able to afford her!

I very much hope that my next item for this topic will be something positive. (I did, after all, say in my first post here that I wanted to keep try to keep this balanced...) But first, I just have to say a big thank you (NOT!) to the miserable thieving git that picked my pocket in the space of a less than a 2 minutes jeepney ride today. I hope he gets drunk with the 27,000 pesos that were in my wallet and dies a horrible death. OK, OK, stupid, stupid me, I know - riding a jeep with that kind of money in my pocket. But I was only heading to my local supermarket to buy some much needed provisions and I really didn't expect to get robbed on a two minute jeepney ride in broad daylight! And YEAH! YEAH! I can hear the cries of "OH! DON'T YOU HAVE PICK-POCKETS AND THIEVS IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY???" Yes, of course we do! But how come just about every solidly constructed house in this country has iron bars on all of its windows? Clearly, Filipinos don't trust Filipinos not to steal their kitchen frying pans! Nuff said??

The first picture in Gallery > Members Albums > Photography > Life (and death) in the Philippines is a very gruesome photo of some poor dog's head on a barbecue stand. I have already said all that I want to say about this in a separate topic under: Dog Food?, People still eat dogs in the Philippines But, whilst I'm still on the subject of dogs, I'd just like to say that if I had my way, I'd have about 98% of all the dogs in the Philippines safely evacuated to safe and loving homes abroad - where the owners would know how to take care of them. (Wag lang China or Korea; where they also eat dogs...) Keeping man's best friend on a piece of string less than the length of the average man's arm - or in a cage which is big enough only for a rabbit - for it's entire life is NOT the way to keep a dog. When Filipinos know how to look after dogs, they should be allowed to keep a dogs.

Life in the Philippines... What is it like? Well, I'm going to be using this topic to share some of my views, observations and experiences of living in the Philippines. No country is perfect, including the Philippines - but this country does have many, many great things going for it. And the imperfections? Well, I guess I can always do what 10 million Filipinos have themselves done and pack up my bags and leave for good! I'll try to keep my own writings on the topic as balanced as possible but, like the news on TV, when someone rides a bus and they have a smooth journey, it doesn't actually make for a very interesting news storey. It goes without saying that my views and observations will be totally biased and even my experiences will be reported from the standpoint of a middle-aged, white (ex-pat Brit,) single, divorced two times foreigner living in the country as a guest. They couldn't be any other way. But having said that, I am a pretty open-minded kind of person and if anyone has got any contrary views, observations or experiences to report, I will be very happy to hear them! I have also started an album on the Art Forums > Gallery for a collection of photos that relate to this topic. Again, these will inevitably be of things that happen to interest me personally - as a white (ex-pat Brit,) single, divorced two times foreigner living in the country as a guest. The photos can be found at: Art Gallery > Members Albums > Photography > Life (and death) in the Philippines By the way, if any ordinary member would like to post a reply to this topic (or any other, outside of "Members and Guests Advertisements and Links,") they need only send me a pm or an e-mail and I will be very happy to upgrade their membership to "Special Member" status - which will allow them to post in any of these forums (except, of course, Latest Developments at artfreaks.com)

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