Wife built a new house. What will we need when we see it for the first time in July?

[Joey G]

2 hours ago, GeoffH said:

Since you're remote I'm going to suggest putting together a decent first aid kit and adding paracetamol and aspirin to it.

- BINGO on the first aid stuff.... Include some Triple Antibiotic cream and it wouldn't be bad to have your Dr in the USA give you a common antibiotic to bring. I bring Cephalexin which covers a wide range of infections. 

- DEET... like OFF 100% DEET. I brought a few bottles and was amazed how none of the wires relatives would use it... and dengue was running above normal at the time.

- Not sure you need a generator for a 3 week trip .. .but a decent portable power storage station would good for keeping your electronics charged during brownouts.

- Hat, sandals, sunglasses, sunscreen,  

 

[JJReyes]

2 hours ago, Joey G said:

- DEET... like OFF 100% DEET. I brought a few bottles and was amazed how none of the wires relatives would use it... and dengue was running above normal at the time.

Filipinos in the provinces consume a lot of vegetables which are loaded with vitamins.  Your body expels any excess vitamins through urine, but a few like Vitamin B is through the pores in your skin.  Mosquitos don't like the smell and avoid biting the person.  By the way, if bitten, it's a female.  She needs the blood for reproduction.

[GeoffH]

4 hours ago, Joey G said:

- BINGO on the first aid stuff.... Include some Triple Antibiotic cream and it wouldn't be bad to have your Dr in the USA give you a common antibiotic to bring. I bring Cephalexin which covers a wide range of infections. 

If the USA doctor won't give then Amoxicillin is readily available in the Philippines and cheap.

Also (and I didn't think of this before either) I suggest buying some Loperamide (anti diarrhea) also sold as branded Imodium, maybe 10 pieces, it's cheap also.

Edited June 1, 2023 by GeoffH

[Joey G]

1 hour ago, GeoffH said:

Also (and I didn't think of this before either) I suggest buying some Loperamide (anti diarrhea) also sold as branded Imodium, maybe 10 pieces, it's cheap also.

Not a bad idea... but it depends on "WHY" you need it... sometime getting the "cause" out as quickly as possible is a good idea.... but yeah if it's more than 3 days and your getting dehydrated (easy to do)... take it.

[Gator]

19 hours ago, JoeLansing said:

We're going there for 3 weeks.  I think we have some dishes and furniture.  The small things are more what I'm interested in.  Our new house is decent, good AC, but way out in the province of Bohol.  Nearest town is Sagbayan and it's 16 miles away.   So far I've thought of:
DEET mosquito spray.
3 prong to 2 prong adapters for laptop chargers and such.
Some tools including a cordless drill  (I'm a fixer).
We have an untested deep well and also a hot/cold water dispenser (that takes bottles?  Not sure.).  Will I want a filter?  Or maybe distiller?  I've heard good things about UV sanitization also.  I mostly don't want the amoeba stomach crap.  I've had it twice.  2nd time learned I can cure it by chugging a pint of Tanduay, but that won't work for my teenage kids. 
Backup generator?  I want solar, but that won't help when an Odette throws a tree onto the solar panels.
I do computers and networks and electronics VERY well if that matters.  

Thank you for any ideas!  We don't leave for 6 weeks.  I need to figure out what goodies I can pack in our 4 extra 50 pound bags.  Will I need to pay taxes/customs on stuff I bring over?  So many questions...LOL

Here's a pic of the outside of the house  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WxRsGGmwyihdE3UHfDUViDBcAZmFOPLe/view?usp=drive_link
Here's a video tour of some of the inside  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WqJJvbDMxUBWxZ-flXxZWGo3hMb4e6Xj/view?usp=drive_link

- Joe

Welcome to the forum Joe. Nice house!

Most houses and apartments here have concrete walls. Is your cordless drill also a hammer drill? You can buy them here. I bought a Bosch 18v cordless one here,  came in  nice tool box with a charger, two batteries and a small selection of good quality drill bits. Promo price = 6,500 pesos (regular price was marked at 8,500 pesos). You can buy a  Chinese made corded hammer drill here for under 2k as well.

First time buyers of bottled water will also need to buy the empty 5 gallon bottles. They typically run about 200 pesos each. Delivery where I currently live is free, with a two bottle minimum at 40 pesos per. 

No you won’t have to pay any import taxes on what’s in your suitcases as long as what you bring falls within their import laws. Generally speaking all personal use items (such as what you’ve mentioned) are exempted. When you arrive just walk thru the “Nothing to Declare” lane (if there even is one, lol). 

I don’t know what your tastes in food are like, but some spices  and herbs can be hard or even impossible to find here. For example: Lowry’s season salt, Old Bay Seasoning, Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, etc. So if you have any ready made / store bought spice mixes you prefer, then bring them as the selection of those is limited. Note: Some can be bought online at Lazada or Shopee, but you’ll pay a premium price; and although  many grocery stores here do carry a wide selection of McComick and Badia brands, they can also be a bit pricey. 

And finally the most important thing you can bring……Patience! And lots of it, lol.

 

[BrettGC]

If you're remote, your local pharmacy may not be adequate so bring enough of any prescription drugs you or your family may be on.  Bring a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor on the off-chance (very remote chance) you get questioned about them at immigration.  

If your wife is a PI or former PI citizen make sure you have a copy of your marriage certificate if you're entering under the Balikbayan privelage. 

Again, if you're remote, enough cash to get you by for at least a couple of days once you're in-situ; the more remote you are the more the area still runs on a cash economy.  ATMs tend to be re-filled on a non-regular basis the more remote you are.  Additionally a reserve supply of emergency cash; many hospitals here demand cash up front regardless of your private cover.  

Tagbileran is only an hour away; there's a Citi Hardware there if you need good quality power tools; they sell Makita, De Walt and Bosch amongst others as well as the cheap Chinese stuff that may or may not last. Transport may be your issue though if you're reliant on others.  Citi is great, they have a good range from cheap to quality of most anything you'll need on the home improvement front.  

A generator is a good idea but if you're only there for 3 weeks that's up to you.  I'd get a good quality battery UPS that's voltage regulated for your more sensitive gear and as someone else said one of those large solar powered generators. The multi-point power boards with built in surge protection are good as well.  Electricity supply and voltage regulation is getting better but in some areas it's still leaves a lot to be desired.  

I'm guessing anything you buy well be left there so you'll have to consider who has access to the house when you and your wife aren't around.  There's a thousand horror stories about "trustworthy" friends/relatives.  On the flip side there's just as many positive results on that front as well, but it is something to consider.  

Buy an outdoor pressure cleaner:  You'll use it a lot.

Edited June 1, 2023 by BrettGC

[RBM]

11 hours ago, Guy F. said:

 

         Bathroom floors with drain BUT perfectly level so water doesn't flow toward drain.

   

From my own not inconsiderable experience, the water ALWAYS drains away from the outlet.

[JoeLansing]

Thank you for all the great info!.  I should have said I'm due to retire in a year.  So this trip is our first visit to the house I may retire at.  I'll see how I like the area.  During my previous 2 trips there I really liked running around at night eating street food and drinking San Miguel in Cebu and Tubigon.  Not sure if there's ANY nightlife near me.  Sagbayan is 16 miles away and might offer something.  My kids are just going for this trip.  My wife wants to move down there with me at some point.   She is from Sagbayan Bohol.  She grew up with no electric or water in their squatter house.  When she was in college they got electric.  I paid to have water and a bathroom added to their house after my first trip there.  She has 5 brothers down there.  Some are good at construction, welding, and heavy equipment.  One of them welded all the roof joists and they held up to a direct Odette hit just fine.  A few of the tie downs roof -> joists failed and my wife just had them redo the entire roof to be able to withstand anything now.

I dunno how quoting here works, so I'm rolling my own.

<Old55> I would only suggest a good power backup + regulator for electronics. The power in Philippines can be all over the place voltage wise or none at all more often than we would like. A quality generator would be too large to bring with you.

Good idea.  I'll price out a UPS or 3 once I see how power is distributed in the house.  I can find a generator down there I'm sure.  I got a decent price on the 2.5hp aircon from Du Ek Sam down there.  They should have generators also, and can service things out of Tubigon.

<Guy F.> Were you not there to supervise during construction? Be prepared for nasty surprises.

I'm sure there will be a few.  My wife does have 5 brothers down there and at least a couple that are decent at construction and such did supervise it so I have a chance.  Currently our only issue is the plumber we hired hasn't connected the shower heads and and such up in the 2 bathrooms.  We have 6 weeks before we arrive, and will just hire another soon if we can't light a fire under the first guy.  We have a well, but the big tanks and pump are being put in now.  

<JJReyes>  Bring money.

I think the wife will bring about $8-$10k she has saved up.  I'll bring $5k-$6k but not telling her.  So I can toss money at issues and be a hero if she gets low :)  

<GeoffH>  You may or may not be able to get internet there.

I think we can get PLDT there https://pldthome.com/dslupgrades I'm ok with non-fast internet.  My kids and wife may be shocked by how much slower it is than the AT&T fiber we have in the states due to their gaming and video streaming.  Here I pay $65/mo for 600MB up/down.  Wife's cousin just told here we can get 35mb for 2k php per month there.

<Joey G> - BINGO on the first aid stuff.

I'm kinda nuts and have a good supply of Amoxcillin, Keflex, and Penicillin I can bring some with me.  I order it from China where I buy super cheap ED meds https://www.alldaychemist.com but it may be even cheaper there.  We'll bring a good supply of first aid stuff.  I've been sending bottles of Repel 40% Deet from Walmart down there for years.  I'll bring a lot of it with me.  

<Gator>  Is your cordless drill also a hammer drill?

I've got a beast of a Ridgid 18V hammer drill with 2-3 batteries.  It was for ice fishing and will drill an 8" hole through 3 feet of ice.  I can bring that.  I've since upgraded to a 24v Kobalt that is twice as strong.   

I think that's about it.  The wife and kids are going down a week before I do.  2 days after I show up I will rescue my 15 daughter and 17 son (and wife) and take them to Blue Ocean Bohol Beachfront Resort on Alona Beach for 2 nights.  Then back to the jungle.  I haven't told the kids about it yet.  It will be a surprise.  They will love me..lol

- Joe

 

 

 

 

[JoeLansing]

Oh, and can I legally get a decent spring air pellet gun down there?  According to the wife we'll have lots of cool snakes (lots of cobras), and rats, and monitor lizards and who knows what else in my yard.  I asked the wife if I could catch a cobra down there and she said "No problem, lots of them in our back yard".  I was happy!  Then I did some reading and they have king cobras which are fine, but their common one is the 3'-5' long Samar Cobra/Southern Philippine cobra which spits venom up to 10 feet.  So now I'm sad, no catching them for me.  But strong pellet rifle would be fun!

[Old55]

41 minutes ago, JoeLansing said:

Oh, and can I legally get a decent spring air pellet gun down there?  According to the wife we'll have lots of cool snakes (lots of cobras), and rats, and monitor lizards and who knows what else in my yard.  I asked the wife if I could catch a cobra down there and she said "No problem, lots of them in our back yard".  I was happy!  Then I did some reading and they have king cobras which are fine, but their common one is the 3'-5' long Samar Cobra/Southern Philippine cobra which spits venom up to 10 feet.  So now I'm sad, no catching them for me.  But strong pellet rifle would be fun!

You would be best off not using or owning an air gun. 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Old55