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

[JJReyes]

Having a problem with feral dogs?  Get a bigger dog.  Our farm had an Alsatian German Shepherd who discouraged other dogs and people wanting to harvest our fruits.

Fearful of snakes?  Make sure to seal all crawl spaces under the house and vicinity.  Snakes don't have pores so they need cool shade from the sun.  You want to discourage them from making your house their home.

[mountainside]

Welcome to the Forum, Joe, and thank you for starting this Topic.  I'll be adding some things for our September return that I never would have thought of.  Last time around we were glad to have brought a couple stout American can openers.  And as other have mentioned, we were really glad that we brought our German knives.  Best of luck with what appears to be a great adventure.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, mountainside said:

And as other have mentioned, we were really glad that we brought our German knives. 

I need to buy a good set of knives.  Any recommendations?  To stay on topic I will research availability and share.  Since Amazon offers free shipping on many things, that has changed the ballgame.

[Tommy T.]

On 6/2/2023 at 8:15 AM, JoeLansing said:

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.  

Hi Joe.

I don't think you need to go too crazy with the meds. Here, most are available and at reasonable prices, but you usually need to get scrips from an MD for many of them. There's tons of DEET repellent. However, you should be aware that sometime in my distant past, I read that 100% DEET is actually toxic and should not be used full strength. I, personally, have "Jungle Juice," which is 100% DEET, but never used it. I find the over the counter "Off" repellents seem to work quite well.

Another thought for you.... Maybe I missed this on a previous post, but you should bring whatever your best laptop computer you own with you. Laptops here are expensive and not all that powerful, in general. They sell the major brands here, like Dell, Acer and others but, fro9m my brief reviews of them, they are not super powerful yet are expensive compared to USA. When in USA, I always bought "reconditioned" Dell computers and never had an issue. Soon I need to buy a small desktop computer and am pulling out whatever is left of my hair trying to figure out the best quality vs. price. Haven't found an answer yet.

[mountainside]

2 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I need to buy a good set of knives.  Any recommendations?

We like Wustof, Zwilling, and Henckels. 

Amazon has some here:  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=zwilling+knives&crid=TUE61IPP0Q2I&sprefix=zwilling%2Caps%2C151&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_4_8

And here:  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wusthof&crid=2W5C2G4FGHB81&sprefix=wusthof%2Caps%2C149&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

We found a store that sells German knives at decent prices in Ayala Mall in Cebu City (can't remember the name).  There might be such a store closer to you, in Manila.

[Gator]

20 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I need to buy a good set of knives.  Any recommendations?  To stay on topic I will research availability and share.  Since Amazon offers free shipping on many things, that has changed the ballgame.

Depends on your budget. Wuesthof are still made in Germany and only the higher end Zwilling knives are still made there. Most of Henkels are now made in a China and some in Spain; they’re not what they used to be. If you want to splurge, then check out Shun’s Fuji line of knives. I have a few and they are well worth the money. One of those deals - you get what you pay for. Properly cared for my grandkids will be using them.  

Edited June 3, 2023 by Gator

[JoeLansing]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:00 AM, JJReyes said:

Fearful of snakes?  Make sure to seal all crawl spaces under the house and vicinity.  Snakes don't have pores so they need cool shade from the sun.  You want to discourage them from making your house their home.

Currently my bil is trying to clean up our back yard by hacking at it with a bolo.  It was clean, but is now grown up to 4-5 feet.  I was looking for lawn mowers, but I finally figured out they just use big weed eaters down there?  I guess another thing to look for when I'm at Citi Hardware in Tagbilaran.  I also checked the chargers on both of my hammer drills.  120V only.  I think Citi Hardware will love me.  I hope I love them also.   I guess for finding interesting critters I can toss down some plywood or something and flip it every couple of weeks to see what lurks beneath.

[JoeLansing]

16 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Hi Joe.

There's tons of DEET repellent. However, you should be aware that sometime in my distant past, I read that 100% DEET is actually toxic and should not be used full strength. I, personally, have "Jungle Juice," which is 100% DEET, but never used it. I find the over the counter "Off" repellents seem to work quite well.

I couldn't find any DEET when I was there, and I don't see any on Lazada or Shopee either.  So I'll bring a few bottles off this same stuff I've been sending down there for years https://www.walmart.com/ip/Repel-Insect-Repellent-Sportsmen-Max-Formula-Spray-Pump-40-DEET-7-5-fl-oz/49662586

16 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Maybe I missed this on a previous post, but you should bring whatever your best laptop computer you own with you. Laptops here are expensive and not all that powerful, in general.

My laptop is couple year old 17" Dell i7 gaming one with 6GB of video and 32GB of normal RAM.  A 1TB SSD and a 1TB platter drive.  Each of my kids have newer Alienware laptops faster than mine they are bringing.   The wife only wants to bring her big fancy Samdung cell phone.  We'll be all set for the 35mb/s PLDT :)  I'll probably pack a spare dual band Wi-Fi router I have laying around just because.  I might setup a OpenSSL VPN on my home server that I can connect out of from Philippines in case anything I used doesn't like my Bohol PLDT IP address.  I've been doing IT/Networks/Security for over 30 years.  I've built over 6K computers.  Used to own my own computer store :)

[JoeLansing]

17 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I need to buy a good set of knives.  Any recommendations?  To stay on topic I will research availability and share.  Since Amazon offers free shipping on many things, that has changed the ballgame.

My wife is a cooking fool.  She asked me for good knives about a year ago.  I got her 4-5 Tojiro japanese knives, but she's to scared to use them.  Super sharp = hard brittle blade that can chip.  I ended up buying too many knives.  The real keepers are Mercer and Victorinox knives.  The Mercer Millennia are fantastic for the price.  Here is an example of a great 8" Chef knife for $22  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P0OLOQ  Oh, and don't get a set, especially a wood block set.  Just get knives you'll use, and then get something like a magnetic knife holder.  I keep them all razor sharp with a Cook's brand 12" ceramic rod.  

[Mike J]

2 hours ago, JoeLansing said:

I also checked the chargers on both of my hammer drills.  120V only.

You can buy a 220/240 to 120 inverter here.  The chargers do not draw much current, so you would only need a small one that are fairly inexpensive.