Family news

I spent yesterday traveling to Manila to finalize my retirement visa: My previous permanent visa was canceled when my husband died, so I had to change it.

Due to traffic, it was a 4 hour drive to and from Manila: With the new expressway system, the time traveling to Manila has decreased, but even with "color coding" (your car can only be used on certain days) the traffic in Manila is terrible. The new "skyways", raised streets with limited access inside Manila, do help, but not always.

If you retire to the Philippines, they will help you get a retirement visa. Indeed, even a lot of ex pats with Filipina wives get the retirement visa, since separation or divorce could cancel their visa just like mine was canceled when Lolo died.

You have to prove a source of income and place money in an account, presumably to insure there is money even if you lose your income. We cannot "own" land etc. but they informed me I could invest in a condominium with the money, which is interesting. Of course, I live in my husband's house here, and by law, even though I can't own it, you cannot throw a widow out of her traditional home.

For meals we went first to Jolibee for breakfast (egg, corned beef and rice) and then for lunch we had pizza and spaghetti and chicken wings (a combo meal for a group, since I traveled with Joy, the driver, and a helper).

We also did a few rice deliveries. Joy has more deliveries, but limited the deliveries to five customers since I was along.

We got hit by the edge of a storm on Wednesday, but luckily the water had gone down so no flooded streets in Manila, which had been "signal one". 

But the dogs didn't get walked Wednesday due to the rain, and I wasn't here yesterday, so they are feisty and are chasing cats and barking at traffic at night, until I go out and shush them.

The Christmas lights are up at the plaza, and being put up all over town. So things are looking cheerful.