An American Retired in the Philippines
I had my laser eye surgery done in early 2004, so it’s been around 19 years. Surgery techniques change, and the type of laser eye surgery I had done is probably an outdated technique by now. My eyesight hasn’t changed at all since I fully recovered from the surgery. Most people tend to start getting … Read more
Over the course of my lifetime (so far), I’ve had to travel by airline more times than I care to remember. I’ve gone to places I wanted to go as well as places I didn’t want to go. Things got progressively worse in most ways after I retired from the military in 1998. Airline Travel … Read more
You’ve probably seen or heard an advertisement or two where the advertisers think words like diarrhea and hemorrhoids are going to disturb you. They quickly get to the point to spare you as much disgust as possible. I, however, am here to disgust you as much as possible. During periods where you don’t eat the … Read more
I’m familiar with warehouse club stores, even if I don’t want to be. My first experience with one was unusual, to say the least. My first 13 years of life were in a small city. The biggest grocery store was Safeway, and I can’t even remember the name of the biggest department store. There was … Read more
Many terms of respect depend mostly on culture and language. Some honorific titles and kinship relationships cross those boundaries when there’s some kind of shared history. These are some of my observations concerning their usage in both the United States and the Philippines. Honorific Titles Most people in America are familiar with honorific titles (also … Read more
We all know there are four seasons of weather (spring, summer, winter, and fall), right? In tropical countries like the Philippines, the four seasons aren’t even recognized. Officially or unofficially, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is what the people living in the Philippines recognize. The one thing that bothers me the most about the … Read more
Before I tell you why I no longer get haircuts at barbershops, I’ll share some history. It’s hard to find regular barbershops these days, at least in the big cities of the United States. There, you’re lucky if you can find anything other than hair salons. Sure, hair salons cut hair, but they do so … Read more
Most westerners (like Americans) won’t eat insects unless they don’t know they’re eating insects. In far eastern societies, however, entomophagy (eating insects) is common among humans. I’ve watched enough videos on various platforms to know this is true. It’s big business in places like Thailand. United States Marines, when undergoing jungle environment survival training at … Read more
While some people call them “locusts”, cicadas are definitely not locusts. A locust is one of several species of grasshopper. In fact, I often wonder when and why the confusion started and why some people are still confused. There are cicadas in the Philippines, just like almost every other place with a temperate or tropical … Read more
A dirty kitchen is not necessarily an unclean kitchen, although those obviously exist. The dirty kitchen I’m talking about is a secondary kitchen, separate from the main kitchen. I’ve never heard that term being used in the United States, but I’m sure they exist even if they’re called something else. In the warmer states, people … Read more