u/Brw_ser

He must've been really into that dog because apparently he was going at it HARD. LOL

I saw a post from the US Embassy where the Iced Tea man was meeting with Senator Robinhood Padilla.

Imagine this: She's just given birth maybe she shat on herself or something.

Husband: So what should we name him honey?

Wife: Mmm Robinhood.

Okay seriously, what the hell was his mother thinking?! LOL.

I get she was probably drugged up after popping him out but those must've of been some potent cocktail for her to hold that baby in her arms name him that.

Then you have names like Bumbum, Queencess, Queenie (this is the name of a dog), Pinky.

Yes, those are legal names, not nicknames.

This one is focusing on northern Mindanao

The last CMM thread did well so I'm trying another one.

• Whereas Metro Manila is drowning in oversupply, with tens of thousands of unsold and empty units, meaning your "asset" is competing against a wall of identical concrete boxes the day you try to sell or rent it.
• Whereas the POGO collapse gutted a huge chunk of the rental market overnight, leaving entire buildings that were "guaranteed rentals" sitting dark.
• Whereas monthly association dues, sinking funds, and special assessments quietly eat your rental yield alive, and they only ever go up, never down.
• Whereas build quality is frequently poor and units visibly depreciate, so unlike land, the physical asset is literally decaying while you hold it.
• Whereas the secondary (resale) market is weak and illiquid, and buyers overwhelmingly want brand-new pre-selling units from developers, not your five-year-old "vintage" condo.
• Whereas pre-selling itself is a gamble, with developer delays, projects that stall for years, and the occasional one that never gets finished at all, while your money sits locked in.
• Whereas rental yields in real terms are thin once you subtract dues, taxes, vacancy months, agent fees, and repairs, often landing below what a boring time deposit or dividend stock would pay.
• Whereas peso depreciation quietly erodes your returns if you're measuring in dollars, which any OFW or foreigner ultimately is.
• Whereas the exit is brutal: capital gains tax, transfer costs, and a buyer pool that would rather put the same money into a shiny new tower next door.

Change my mind. I know there are some real estate agents here.

The last CMM thread did well so I'm trying another one.

• Whereas Metro Manila is drowning in oversupply, with tens of thousands of unsold and empty units, meaning your "asset" is competing against a wall of identical concrete boxes the day you try to sell or rent it.
• Whereas the POGO collapse gutted a huge chunk of the rental market overnight, leaving entire buildings that were "guaranteed rentals" sitting dark.
• Whereas monthly association dues, sinking funds, and special assessments quietly eat your rental yield alive, and they only ever go up, never down.
• Whereas build quality is frequently poor and units visibly depreciate, so unlike land, the physical asset is literally decaying while you hold it.
• Whereas the secondary (resale) market is weak and illiquid, and buyers overwhelmingly want brand-new pre-selling units from developers, not your five-year-old "vintage" condo.
• Whereas pre-selling itself is a gamble, with developer delays, projects that stall for years, and the occasional one that never gets finished at all, while your money sits locked in.
• Whereas rental yields in real terms are thin once you subtract dues, taxes, vacancy months, agent fees, and repairs, often landing below what a boring time deposit or dividend stock would pay.
• Whereas peso depreciation quietly erodes your returns if you're measuring in dollars, which any OFW or foreigner ultimately is.
• Whereas the exit is brutal: capital gains tax, transfer costs, and a buyer pool that would rather put the same money into a shiny new tower next door.

Change my mind. I know there are some real estate agents here.

Vietnam is an interesting place to live, that's for sure. You can't beat the low cost of living but man some things about these people get on my nerves.

For one thing, they love to laugh at the most inappropriate things.

There was a story about a local girl who got sold by her boyfriend to a Chinese businessman. How is that even remotely funny?

An American got trapped in a bathroom and had to be rescued by firefighters. Yes, he was heavy, but at that level he clearly had a problem, and unfortunately he passed away, probably from embarrassment. They were supposed to be professionals, but the firefighters took pictures of him and leaked them to the press. He was humiliated across the entire globe! Why did they need to that? Seriously.

Vietnam has a lot of imports, but what is the one thing you wish you had from back home but can't get here in 'Nam.

I've had to delete a few posts so I thought I'd write this message letting everyone know this is a space for EXPATS living in Vietnam. This is NOT a space for local Vietnamese to air their grievances about foreigners. This includes passive-aggressive questions and comments. I started this space because I felt like expats are not being treated fairly in the main sub. Which interestingly enough is not occupied by real Vietnamese anyway, just Vietnamese American/Austrians etc

r/VietNam would get you an audience for that anyway. This is a space for expats who want to let their hair down, sort of speak as a result. I'd also like to remind everyone that only posts in English will be allowed in here.

To most people it's pretty intuitive that in order to live here successfully you need money. That's just wrong. You can scour the internet for dozens of stories of guys who came here with a 40k lump sum in their bank accounts and are now e-begging for cash 6 months later.

Money goes fast here and not on things you'd expect. Things that just aren't that expensive in other parts of Asia like transportation, decent hotel rooms, decent food tend to cost more due to the island tax. Actually, I think its the island tax that gets a lot of green expats in trouble. They figure "oh well I don't buy Crystal Champagne or Hermes belt buckles, I'm good'. But what they don't realize is that just living life costs more than expected; even worse if you're dating.

Case in point: Back in my single days I took my girlfriend, now wife, to Pangalo. I thought we were doing it right. We took the ferry instead of flying, stayed in a 3-star hotel (in a tiny room), no guided tours, we just rented a scooter. Long story short, I had spent $1,000 for a 4 day trip!

That's why the most important thing you need to live here isn't money, it's income. They're not the same thing. If you've got a $2,000 check coming next month no matter how badly you screw up you'll have something to fall back on. Once that 40k lump sum is gone, it's gone. It's not that easy to find decent online work anymore either. Most pure online jobs nowadays are scams like selling insurance or pay really low like teaching English on Cambly.

I strongly recommend you have income lined up before you touch down on that tarmac. It'll make your life a lot easier.

Since teaching English locally isn't an option here I figured I'd start a thred for non-retireed expats.

Just some advice: I recommend you have something lined up before you come here.

I've seen some disturbing posts from expats/foreigners who were mistreated by their Filipino hosts but I'm curious to hear if you've been discriminated against at the hands of Filipinos here? Filipinos are outwardly friendly so I'm wondering how often this actually happens?

My father left when I was 10 years old. I went years without hearing from him. He remarried and started a new family. He has 5 children from 3 different women. Out of all of them I am the ONLY one who doesn't still live at home. He tried to come back into my life after my business became a success. But he's still incredibly selfish. We didn't talk for a while again until I posted a picture of me wearing a Rolex and now he wants to "reconnect'. I'm just done. He's never going to change. He wasn't there when I was struggling and now he wants the fruits of my labor?? No I can't I just can't. I've been trying to reconcile honor thy mother and father but I just can't.

Just strictly out of curiousity, we always talk about the deck being stacked against us in the Philippines and I do believe that is the case often I'd like to hear from you guys.

If you've ever had to encounter the PH justice system, how was it for you? Were they fair, or were you waived off?

Dude had been raping kids below 12 years old and had a computer full of kiddie porn. He doesn't deserve to live

I've been seeing a few posts here about owning and running a business as a foreigner in the Philippines. I thought I'd create this thread as someone who owns a business here with 80 full time employees and share with you some of the mistakes I've made in the process.

1. You'll face more scrutiny as a foreigner than your local competitors. You'll have a bullseye on your back from the BIR. At first, they'll most likely ignore you, but once your competitors see that you're starting to gain traction, they'll go through all your paperwork with a fine-tooth comb. Things that a local might get a verbal warning for (if anything at all), you could get huge fines for, especially when it comes to dismissing bad employees.
2. Red tape is real here- I strongly advise you to hire a lawyer and accountant to take care of that stuff for you, for the above reason.
3. The business will most likely be in your wife's name; its just easier that way. Notice I said wife not girlfriend. If I don't trust her enough to marry her then why would I put my life savings into her?
4. Unless you have investors willing to front your salary for the 2-3 years it takes to get established, I suggest you don't compete on price. You'll just be in a race to the bottom and you'll have trouble scaling since you won't be able to attract the good talent.

I know I'm going to get attacked for these next points but oh well

4. In my experience, when hiring employees on the lower end of the spectrum most young, unmarried Filipino men are donkeys. They have a lot of pride but little talent/work ethic, If you're running a business that mostly has low-level employees like a restaurant or gas station if you hire men I suggest you stick to married men or at least men with a family to support. Filipinas on the other hand can be extremely hardworking, and if you treat them right, they'll stick with you forever. Now, once you get to the professional level, Filipino men are just as good as the women.

5. Be upfront about who you are and what your values are. I make no bones that mine is a Christian company, and we begin every day with a morning prayer. I've had some people decline to work for me because of it, and that's okay. It's better to be honest than to mislead them and then have to deal with a troublemaker in the building.

6. When hiring, skills should the least of your concerns; obviously, they need a certain skill set, but your primary concern should be their attitude and how well they'll fit in. Most donkeys are easy to spot right away (he's had 4 jobs this year alone) but some know how to dress nicely and know what to say in an interview; it usually takes 2-3 interviews for their donkeyness to come out. Look out for signs of entitlement and victimhood. Try to figure out if this person tends to walk away when he doesn't get his way. He's living with the mother of his children, but he won't marry her? Why not? When I hire managers, I always take them out to dinner and insist they bring their families with them. Filipinos love free meals they almost always accept. I did this because there was one guy that I really liked, he was recommended by my pastor and he interviewed really well, but when I took him to The Lounge, his children were running all over the place, screaming, and his wife was talking back to him when he told her to calm them down. As far as I'm concerned, a man who can't run his house can't run my business either.

7. I also used to check their social media. There was one girl I liked, she said she was a churchgoer and named the church and everything but I noticed on her Facebook she was always posting pictures of herself in expensive hotels. I knew her salary history and I saw a lot of older foreign men on her friends list. I don't need people who take advantage of others working for me.

[repost because I think its useful]