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Sharing some news I saw today. It's welcome good news for anyone trying to get a foreign divorce from a previous marriage recognized.

What are the rules on hanging laundry on a condo balcony?

Short version:
What are the rules about hanging laundry outside on the balcony at the condo where you live? Or more to the point, are the rules actually enforced?

Long version:
We stayed at an Airbnb (the one next to Rise), and the house rules card said no hanging laundry outside. Looking out from the 30-something floor, I could see lots of units with drying racks and clothes out to dry.

Looking up from that Airbnb's pool area, there were also plenty of units drying clothes.

Why I'm posting:
I'm currently renting an Airbnb. I have some premium clothes that are supposed to be air-dried, and they don't dry well inside the condo. So out on the balcony in the sun is the best option. Sometimes a cigarette butt drops from above, which is annoying, but what can you do.

So, the rules card at the Airbnb we stayed at before said no hanging laundry outside. We followed the rules there.

The lease at our current condo has nothing about hanging laundry outside. But a community post for the condo we're staying at said someone got fined for hanging clothes.

Still, at our condo too, looking from the pool area or outside at the other towers, you can see lots of clothes, blankets, and sheets drying outside.

So what are the rules where you live? If it's prohibited, have you ever been fined? Thanks for your time.

You did something that could become a lifelong trauma.

Crazy world
American women spend money to get darker, while Filipina women spend money to get lighter.
The funny thing is, both are chasing someone else's idea of beauty.
There's an entire industry making money by convincing women their natural skin color isn't good enough.
And here's the real irony: too much tanning damages your skin, while the glutathione injections sold for whitening can carry serious health risks.
If you ask me, the most beautiful skin color is the one you were born with.
What's going on?
😊
To all you Pinays who think lighter skin is more attractive, remember that beauty standards differ depending on where you are in the world. Some women like lighter skin, but others love having a tan. Every skin tone has its own beauty, so be proud of your natural color.

My experience hiring drivers as a foreigner in the Philippines

Hi everyone, I thought I'd share my experience hiring drivers in the Philippines. Most of what I learned came from mistakes, and most of those mistakes were mine. Just so you know up front, everything I went through was in Mindanao, so other regions may be different.

I really love going on golf trips when I need a break. Finding new courses is a hobby of mine, and I don't enjoy driving winding, poorly maintained roads myself, so I usually hire a driver. Cebu Pacific has weight limits and airports are loud and chaotic, so I prefer this to flying.

As far as I know, there are no big rental companies like Enterprise or Hertz outside Manila, so I go to the "Car & Driver [city name]" Facebook groups and post something like: "Looking for an SUV and driver to take me golfing at Del Monte in Bukidnon. Meals are on me. All-inclusive prices only, please."

That "all-inclusive" part really matters. Some people quote a price that looks super cheap at first and then nickel-and-dime you the whole trip. I learned that the hard way.

At first I thought it was smart to have a kind of trial period, letting a driver take me around the city for a day or two before giving him bigger jobs. It didn't work for me.

One driver was a real pro. He'd drop me at the course, nap in a hammock, and when I finished he'd take my bag, smile, and ask, "Did you have a good round, sir?" After about six months I had him drive my father too (my father also spends time in the Philippines) and kept giving him more work. I also paid whatever he asked. That was mistake number two. On top of that, I'm the type who doesn't back down when I feel I'm being treated unfairly, which didn't help.

Then we took a big trip to Dakak in Dapitan, where Jose Rizal was exiled. The deal was clear: 15,000 pesos for 3 days, which was generous by Mindanao standards (especially since it was before the oil crisis). The trip was a mess from the start. First, he began insisting the 15,000 was for one day. He held out for hours before we were supposed to leave, waiting for me to cave. I didn't. I told him, "Don't be ridiculous, even drivers in the US don't make 15,000 a day." I took him aside and said, "I want to keep working with you, but you have to stop doing this. You know the price, let's just go as we agreed." He said, "Yes, sir," and I hoped that was the end of it.

After that he kept asking for more gas money, so I said fine, but it would come out of the final payment. I took him and my caddie to dinner and paid for their hotel rooms. My understanding is that most people just have the driver sleep in the car, but I wanted to be generous. Then they kept asking for beer money. It was 200 pesos. When I said no, he said, "That's your obligation to us." The argument kept escalating until I said we could go to the barangay and let them decide whether he was being underpaid. Even if it happened again today, I'm not sure I'd give in. It wasn't about the money. I felt betrayed.

With another driver, I agreed on a price that was almost too cheap to make sense. Business was slow on the visa side, and honestly I shouldn't have hired a driver at all... but you live and learn. He was late picking up my partner at the airport, which made me mad, and then he had the nerve to demand an extra 1,000 pesos. I told him to get lost. He then sat in his car in front of my house for 4 hours, so I finally called the police.

The next driver I met was good, professional, and reasonably priced. But after three trips he suddenly hiked his rate. I didn't argue (arguing rarely does any good in this country). I just stopped calling him.

Now I put the terms in writing and have them sign it. It's exactly what I tell my clients: put the terms on paper before anything starts. What I've learned is that paying above the going rate rarely gets you better service, and being too stingy breeds resentment (obviously). Like most things in life, you have to find the sweet spot. It also helps that things are much better for me now than a year ago, so I don't have to choose based on price alone. Knowing which battles to pick helps a lot too. Looking back, honestly, ruining a trip over 200 pesos was dumb.

Just because you did it doesn't make you guilty.

I got an unexpected $90.00 deposit from the SSA today. No email or message in my online account either. Anyone else get one? Or know why?

Vietnam draws 522,000 visitors from the Philippines in the first nine months of 2026

A baby seal waits every morning to meet the San Diego surfers. It climbs onto their boards and rides the waves together with them.

Are there any licensed construction companies with contact info in the Baliuag area?

Restaurant reviews in the Philippines

In other countries I usually trust Google reviews, but I'm not so sure about the Philippines.

Yesterday I ended up in an area I don't know, so I opened Google Maps and saw an Indian restaurant nearby rated 4.5 from over 700 reviews. The starter and main were both bland and expensive, and the vegetables were overcooked to mush (I ordered a vegetarian dish). Maybe I was just unlucky with what I ordered.

A steakhouse nearby is rated 4.7 with 550 reviews, and an American guy told me it wasn't very good when he went.

I also see ads on here offering to pay people for Google reviews.

How much do you all trust Google reviews? Or could it be that the restaurants cater to the Filipino palate and mine is Western?

Netherlands custom pricing

I love grilling meat. Chicken, pork, beef, etc. Charcoal is easy to find, but lighter fluid isn't. Without it, it's hard to keep the local stuff burning. Is there another option? What do you all use?
Thanks for answering.

Sexually transmitted diarrhea is on the rise

First it was HIV, then mpox, and now Shigella (sexually transmitted diarrhea). A new strain of the bacteria that causes Shigella diarrhea is spreading through sex, and experts are warning it could become a superbug. It's mainly being passed on by a certain group when they have anal sex followed by oral sex in the same session.

A hugely punk moment that happened at a Green Day concert

Hi everyone, I have a question for anyone who's had kids in the local public school system, not private school. And the only reason I'm posting anonymously is that this is about my kid, not me.

My 17-year-old daughter is coming to live with me and my new wife for her last year of high school. I have no idea what to tell her to get ready for this. We live in the Lapu-Lapu area. Any advice, tips, or things she'll need would be a huge help. Also, I already know some wise guys will show up with dumb answers or rude, crude ones. To them: thanks for showing us how immature you are.

What the new divorce ruling means for foreigners who were married to Filipino citizens

The Philippine Supreme Court has made it easier for a Filipino spouse to get a foreign divorce recognized in Philippine courts. It's a change to the rules on evidence and procedure, not a change to who qualifies.

Note that this is not a national divorce law. Right now, domestic divorce is only allowed for Muslim Filipinos.

What it means for a foreigner who divorced a Filipina

Your divorce was always valid. Nothing here changes your status abroad. The rule is about her capacity to remarry under Philippine law and about getting the divorce annotated on her PSA records.

It mostly matters to her. Before, the recognition case could stall or be dismissed because the petitioner couldn't properly prove the foreign law. That was the biggest obstacle, and it's now much lighter. It's the same obstacle the Supreme Court pointed out in earlier cases, where it sent the case back to receive evidence on Japanese divorce law.

If you're the ex-spouse, expect that the case may be easier for her to win. You can still oppose it, but the burden is on you to overturn the presumption with certified foreign law.

Limited divorces and legal separations don't qualify. If the decree says it's limited, the presumption doesn't hold.

Nothing is automatic. She still has to file in a Philippine court. The article says nothing about property, support or custody, so I wouldn't assume those are affected.

For K-1 and CR-1 cases

If a Filipina who was married to a foreigner now wants to marry your client, or your client's fiancée has a previous foreign spouse, cleaning things up on the Philippine side will be easier. A recognized divorce and an annotated PSA marriage certificate give her capacity to marry in the Philippines. For USCIS, the question is still whether the previous marriage legally ended where the divorce was obtained, so keep documenting the decree itself. I'm not a lawyer, so confirm the details of the Philippine court process with a Philippine lawyer.

Damn China

Hi everyone! Has anyone here cashed or deposited a US dollar paper check in the Philippines? If so, which local bank did you use, and how many days or weeks did it usually take for the check to clear? Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Do you check a Filipina's social media before a date?

Recently a Filipina suggested a date pretty soon after we matched.

For safety and so I don't get fooled by a fake account, I always ask for their Instagram. I don't actually follow them, I just want to see who they really are. I don't follow them.

But this one said she "only uses Instagram to talk to her family" and didn't want to share it. To me, the real reason was that she was hiding something.

Is it too much to ask for someone's Instagram or Facebook to know who you're going out with? In the end you're spending money and several hours of your life on someone. Treating it as normal not to know who you're dating seems a bit crazy to me. Just my opinion.