Manila, Philippines – our new home in the sky

It’s now been a week since our arrival in Manila, Philippines. To cut to the chase; so far we love it. Our new apartment is fantastic; a high rise right in the heart of Makati – the business/expat area; all very upscale and metropolitan. We spent seven years in our home in Jakarta, so apartment living is a new thing for us. Our place is quite high in the sky and very spacious; 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths not includingRead more

Earning supplemental income: Part 2 – Ideas and brainstorming

This is the second part of a series I’m devoting toward making supplemental income. Consider it a glimpse into my own experimentation. If I crash and burn, you’ll get a front row seat. After posing the question I received an abundance of helpful and interesting responses. The majority of which were centered around photography. A list of suggestions (in the order they were posted): Wedding photography Side business from passions iPhone app creation Publish a photo book Indonesian stock marketRead more

Earning supplemental income: How to make money in your spare time?

Money. As much as I strive to enjoy life without focusing on it, I’m beginning to feel that it’s time to seek out more financial security. The global recession, New Year’s resolutions, and the very lucid realization that I’m now in my 30’s has been the cause of such thinking. For the past seven years, I’ve lived in Jakarta on a decent salary, with sufficient housing provided, a car that’s paid off, maids that have cooked and cleaned, and haveRead more

Do you dream in your mother tongue or other languages?

On Twitter, I posed the question, “Those of you bilingual (or tri, etc). Do you dream in your mother tongue or the other languages as well?” Interesting and varied answers from some of my Twitter contacts are listed below (will update more as they roll in): I dream in Lao and English. Less Lao now, since I’m not near my family. both! weird, I just realise it. Brilliant question! both, sometimes just the mother time, sometimes the other language, sometimesRead more

Love it when people cut in line… (expat complaining)

Indonesian friends, how often have you seen this scene played out? This happened to me last night, but seems to be a weekly occurrence. Last night I walk into Indomart (equivalent to 7-11) to buy a box of bottled water. The lady in front of me was taking her time adding items to her checkout, one by one from all corners of the store. I patiently waited over 5 minutes. Soon there were six other customers lined up behind me, allRead more