It’s been a few weeks now since the opening of S & R. We’ve been very happy with it. I’ve been rarely going now to the other grocery stores here. When going there I’ve been eyeing some stuff there, coming back a few days after and its gone. Just for example I want a purple colored towel, good for our girls here in the house. I was telling my daughter that we will buy that next time we go there, I had some other stuff in mind to buy that day. Few days after when we came back it’s gone already. They still have other towels there, but the color that I want were gone already. Been going there a few times since then but no towel of that color yet there. So I will just have to wait. Or should I say Jean will have to wait for that color to come back there on stock then. For now I bought her a different color of towel.

Plenty of people at S&R, it’s always crowded!

We like the ribs

Other stuff that the kids were eyeing there was the gigantic trampoline. See we used to have trampoline that we brought with us from the States. It was overused for a long time.  Time to get a new one. The only problem our old trampoline the size it’s 10 feet in diameter. The one they have there at S & R was 15 feet in diameter. No matter what angle we are measuring on our yard that trampoline just don’t have enough space here. Big sigh for our kids and us. Bob and I both know that our kids enjoyed having trampoline. We are waiting if they will have the size that we want later. We are hoping for it though.

Other craze for the kids there was the pop-tart and Dr. Pepper soda. Can’t buy every time we go there. It will blow my budget away. Ha ha ha. . We also like the cooked babyback ribs there. It comes with one bottle of 2 liter soda with it. Really sometimes when me and Aaron and my niece Glenda take our daily walk, sometimes we would stop at S & R. Just like to walk around inside and just see what new stuff they have there again. That’s the new place to be for our family now.

Inside S&R – looks just like Costco!

Since the opening we hardly shop at the other store. We now buy our meats and other stuff there. Just little stuff we would buy from the other grocery store. Good thing it’s just a walking distance from our house. That’s really a plus for us. One thing we saw there that we used to buy in Costco in the States was the king crab. Gee it’s just too darn expensive. We just have to turn our heads away when passing that aisle. LOL. For Thanksgiving I am already looking at their whole turkey there. It’s butterball brand too.

I had a friend that I brought there. She’s living part time here in Davao. She want’s to get the membership but she’s not sure if she will be here by the end of the year or next year. She might be in the States the whole year. So I told her just don’t get a membership right now, to just let me know when she wants to buy something at S & R. Day before yesterday I brought her there. She’s wanting some medicines that she’s used to buy in the States. They had there at S & R, so she bought that with a bottle of lotion that she likes from there too.

After she bought the stuff we ate our lunch there. Good food and affordable. She’s just amazed with the place too.

Want a drink – unlimited refills!

All in all, so happy to have the S & R here and especially it’s really near to our house. I know some of you would say that you will not buy something from a place that you will pay for a membership. But for us it’s just so worth it. I found stuff there that my family were so happy to have it. At the end that’s all that matters to me and Bob.

Happy shopping everyone!

Hope to see you at S&R!

I’ve been hearing stories here about people borrowing other people’s name or should I say identity to apply to get work abroad. Like some people loaned to their cousins/friends their identity. I mean they get everything the birth certificate, bio-data and picture and etc. Then they will get passport and all the necessary papers to go to work outside the Philippines.

One of the stories that I heard lately: It’s really a dilemma for a person on how to go back to the US of A!

The lady borrowed an identity of her cousin to go to the USA. This happened like over 15 years ago.The thing that baffles some of her  friends why on earth is she using her cousin’s name they are kind of a well off family. So anyway she went to the States with her cousins identity. Don’t really know her reasons behind using cousins name. She’s been living in the States for a few years and didn’t take a vacation to the Philippines yet. Until one day one of the family member called her up and told her that her dad was seriously ill and he’s in the hospital. Without thinking she went to the travel agency and booked her ticket to come back to the Philippines.

Immigration fraud?

Well by not thinking she booked her ticket using her real name. She didn’t realize it until later. I guess she was arrested and sent back to the Philippines immediately. Not sure if she married her husband on her cousins name. Her and her husband had one son. After she got deported the husband brought their son to the Philippines to live with his mom. I guess the son continued his studies here until he graduated high school. Soon after high school graduation the son returned to the States. He is now living in the States with his dad. The mom was left here in the Philippines, hoping that one day she will be reunited with them there. The husband have been trying to bring her back to the States after the incident, but to no avail. As one of my friends told me the term they used to name the person if not allowed to enter the other country again was “blocked listed”. So I guess she was one of those people that was blocked listed. 

The sad part for her now, some of her friends think that the husband already has family there of his own in the USA. I mean another ladylove, they even said he already had a kid with the other woman. Some friends of the first wife advice the husband to build a house for her here and buy a vehicle for her. Which he did wholeheartedly. I guess for the past few years he was coming here to visit his wife and son when theirs some special occasion for his son. I think he interacts less with his wife when visiting. Friends were kind of worried with her now because she’s kind of paranoid now. She will not go out of her house, she’s just wanting to stay in-front her computer waiting for her husband to Skype her. Friends were already worried about her.  

Really, I just don’t have any knowledge regarding this matter. Any advice from you guys will be highly appreciated:

My questions to any of you now:

• Do you think the wife can still enter the USA someday soon?
• Is there like a limit of number of years for her to be out from the States before she will be able to enter the USA again?
• Is she going to be banned in entering the USA or other countries?
• Can the kid petition the mom to come to the USA if he is a US citizen?
• Can her son petition the mom using her original name?

Thank you so much guys for your help.

Mabuhay!

I was just talking to an old friend of mine.  We were buddies from years past, before I even went to the States.  We had not seen each other for quite sometime. Later on our conversation she found out that I am already a dual citizen. She was really happy for me. She then asked me about a conversation that she overheard while attending a party.

She was just puzzled about a visa thing, which she just didn’t know a thing about. She was then telling me the story.

“The lady was married here in the Philippines to a guy who is a former Philippine citizen and now an American citizen and lives in the States. The marriage was arranged just for the lady to get to the USA. They didn’t live together in the States. Almost a year after that  the lady was in the US, the guy came to the Philippines to visit his family. On that same time he met a lady that he was corresponding with on the net. He said that he really loves the lady and wanting to marry that lady that he just correspond with. He got the lady pregnant during that visit too. The guy wants to file annulment  from the lady he married first. As a lot of us know that it would take awhile or forever for the annulment to be final here in the Philippines. He really wants out from the sham marriage, but the problem is the wife she’s not yet on her 2 years stay in the States. The wife wants to visit the Philippines too even she’s not yet in the States for 2 years. She already had her “Green Card”. Can she travel here to the Philippines? I guess she’s worried to travel here to the Philippines that she might not be allowed to re-enter the US again.”

Just a thought and questions to the people that know here. We might have readers here with similar problems. My questions now:

Divorce

• Would the wife and husband be in trouble for the arrange marriage agreement?
• Is there quicker way out for them to get annulled?
• Can the wife travel here to the Philippines even she’s not yet in the States for 2 years?
• If they file for annulment should both of them be here in the Philippines for that?

Some couples will get married here in the Philippines, then, on filing the visa they will file “Fiancee Visa”. Like a friend I know wants to did like that. I told the lady that if you get married here you should not file the fiancee visa then. So they decided to just get married in the States then.

Sorry guys for asking for advice. I was just thinking about this fake marriages, it’s more rampant than I thought. I am just naive about this? I know with Bob and I before we have to go to Seattle for my interview for the 2 years stay. They asked our bank accounts and credit cards and if we had the same address. They video tape the interview and I’m pretty sure they studied that tape if both of us were faking on our answers. Maybe the immigration would give more leeway nowadays than with us before.

Can you imagine trying to stay marriage for 2 years. Can those personnel not see the reaction of both husband and wife? Like this people that I was talking about they didn’t live together and I’m sure they had some sign of discomfort with each other while talking. They have to be good in acting in-front of the immigration personnel.

Any advice regarding this matter really is welcome here. If anyone experience or knew someone that did have similar experiences feel free to share it here. I just don’t have the knowledge what to tell anyone that would ask me. I would really appreciate any words from you all.

Have fun getting your proper visa!

I was grocery shopping with my youngest son, Jared, today after registering him for the next school year Ateneo de Davao University. I promised him that I will buy him a drink as soon as we will be at NCCC mall. Which I did. NCCC  just walking distance from Ateneo.

While shopping we passed by an aisle where I saw candles. I immediately told Jared that I have to get some candles. I didn’t explain to him my purpose of buying the candle, I just grab a bunch of them and put it in our cart. In his mind I bought the candles for black out purposes. He was getting some and showing me one that would be better  for blackout because it will last longer. When I was getting into different colors and such, he was just puzzled. I told him my reasons for buying the candles for the graveyard of my sister and I will also include my mom, my dad and my brother-in-law. He looked at me with his raised up eyebrows and the word that uttered in his mouths was “HUH”. I could tell more questions ahead of me there. Which he did within just minutes after his shock.  He immediately asked why “he didn’t know that you had sisters that died a long time ago?”.

Candles for the dead

Here in the Philippines when someone died it’s our traditions (Catholics) to light the candles all through out the wake until the person that died be buried. Then after burial, there would be a 9 days prayer in the house. Candle (some light thing) should be lit 24/7 from the time the person died until 40th days of the passing. It might be regional, so I ‘m not sure of that. I will write more about traditions in our culture. Stay tuned for it. 

Wow, I was really caught off guard there. I never knew that my not telling him, it bothered him a little bit. I guess I don’t talk to him about my 3 siblings that died a long time ago because for me he is too young to be told about it. I guess I miscalculated my son. I thought he is not yet ready to hear it. I don’t really want to tell him because it just a sad thing. But I guess he is ready to hear it now. I’ve talked to Aaron and Jean a little bit about it. I will tell Chris slowly too, it will be hard for him too. But in time he will understand.

My other 2 siblings died before I was born, so not much to talk about it because I just know them. I just know them  from what my parents told me. My siblings that died, our oldest brother he died minutes after he was born, the second one my sister she was 3 years old. I can’t remember I think it was from a bad flu. The other sister she died when she’s 27 years old and I just graduated my grade school at that time. She was handicapped from polio when she was 3 years old. It was really hard on my parents and me when she died. Why hard on me because I’ve been with her ever since I can remember until she passed. Wow, It will be her death anniversary in a few days time. It’s going be 32 years then. Wow, that long ago already and it seems it was yesterday that we hung out together at our house in the farm. I remember teaching her how to read and write. She was learning a little bit from me. But she was learning a lot from few teachers that lives with us in our house. They were teachers in our town and by my parents generosity they were offered to live with us for free. My dad was just happy that the teachers were so eager to teach the kids in our barrio.

Remembering my sister also remembering my parents. It’s been 20 years since my dad passed away and 5 years for my mom. I am slowly telling Jared about my family that passed on. He is really interested to know more about my dad, since me my nieces and my sisters were talking about my parents when my sister’s were here at our house during the kids graduations. The kids were really wishing they saw my dad and they are more interested to hear about him since they know that my dad fought during WW2. Luckily they saw my mom before she died. They had good fun memories of her. They would always remember her in our yard planting flowers.

To my Dad, Mom and my siblings we love you. My kids will know more about you guys. You guys will not be forgotten. We will see you there later!

We’ve been living in our neighborhood for almost 3 years now. We really like our neighborhood and our surroundings. It’s really new that during night time its so quiet and peaceful. We hardly hear any blowing of car horn and tricycles. We really like it here a lot. It also is convenient for our kids to go to school, just a walking distance. When we first moved in here, right across the street living was the classmate of my youngest son Jared. They lived in the neighborhood for a long time. But just few months after we moved in they are moving out. They moved in to our old neighborhood to be near to their business. They lived there just across the street where we used to live.

The place that they left behind on our new neighborhood had been empty for a long time, until early this year. In that lot it sits 4 houses with I think one bedroom, bathroom and kitchen in every house. Really its like a compound. So I guess the new renter rented the whole compound and he rented out each houses individually. And one of the houses was rented to the workers of S & R wholesale store ( sister company of Costco in the States). These workers were kind of rude and rowdy. Well what do we expect with the drunkards people. They just don’t have the instinct to think that they have to be quiet during middle of the night. They’ve been loud almost every night. We are so looking forward when the S & R will be done and open. Hopefully these workers will be out of our neighborhood in no time. Just by listening to these workers they are not from here locally. I think they are from Luzon. I don’t think they will stay here for a long time. I think they just work here by contract term.

One thing they used to do was hanging out on our front yard sitting on the concrete near the gate. We don’t really like it because sometimes they left their garbage there. So just to avoid confrontation I put my thorny plants there for them to know not to sit there. Once in awhile I saw them sitting on some part of the yard. I will have to plant some more thorny plants again to occupy the whole concrete in our front yard.

When they first arrived on that house, boy they were so loud. They always had karaoke and drinking almost every night. Few weeks after them moving in I noticed that they were not so loud anymore and they are not staying that much outside. I had a feeling that they were told by our other neighbor to be quiet. See the house just across from us the owner, he is a lawyer. I’m not sure if those new neighbors were told to tone down  a bit because here in Davao you could get in trouble with being noisy past the wee hour of the night. That was just my hunch since all of a sudden the karaoke was stopped. If they were told by our other neighbor, I’m so happy for that. Really I think they know that our other neighbor just don’t put up with their BS. Most of our neighbors here were lawyers and judge. I’m just glad that I don’t have to tell these annoying neighbor what I think. Somebody already told them what we think of them.

How’s your neighbor? Feel free to share your experience with your neighbor!