What works good for photos is to enclose them in a greeting card. Most greeting cards with 3-4 photos included will still be under the 1 oz limit for standard airmail at $.80 postage. I found from experience that even if you are a little over weight, they NEVER send it back for additional postage. They really enjoy receiving the greeting cards and photos.

For tapes or small items, use the standard parcel post through the post office. Much cheaper than a courier service but might a take a month or two. Don’t send anything valuable with this method! And if you want the package to be there for Christmas, better send it Yesterday!

I recommend that you DO NOT send ANY electronics items or electrical appliances. The customs duty can be horrendous and she will have to pay maybe 100% or more of the value in duty fees. Access to an audio cassette tape player will be no problem for her. A VCR might be harder to find but there is usually a friend or relative around somewhere with one.

Ray

It is true that some items are exempt from duty or taxed at a lower rate if they are used. I could be wrong, but I think they usually use 6 months as the qualifying age.

My Filipino neighbor flew back as a balikbayan a couple of years ago and wanted to bring a TV set with him. He removed the new TV from the box and packed it in his balikbayan box. When he cleared customs in Manila, the inspector asked him how old it was and he said one year. The inspector said that the serial number wasn’t issued until recently so it couldn’t be a year old. He was almost arrested and ended up paying full duty (I think 200%) and had to bribe the inspector to keep from going to jail on top of it.

If you ship it over or hand carry it, customs will not open and inspect every package, but they do random spot checks. With the current state of world affairs, I would guess that they are checking a lot more closely than they were before Sept. 11th.

From my experience, customs inspectors, regardless of the country, are some of the shrewdest bunch on this planet. I would NEVER try to B.S. a customs inspector. They have no sense of humor and will arrest your buns in a heartbeat.

My recommendation would be to thoroughly investigate the current customs regulations and follow them explicitly. It isn’t worth the risk just to save a few bucks.

Ray

The mail delivery times can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including destination in the Philippines, time of year, weather, etc. I found the average time for mail from the West Coast to Mindanao to be around 17 days and around 2 weeks coming back this way.

The mail is usually a lot slower around December through January, sometimes over a month. Another thing I found out is that in the Philippines, there is often only one postal deliveryman for a given route. If he gets sick or goes on vacation, there is nobody to fill in and deliver the mail, so it sits in the post office until he gets back. My wife could usually cut about a week off the time it took a letter to reach her if she went downtown and picked up her mail at the post office daily.

I think a big mistake that a lot of guys make is waiting for a reply before they mail another letter. If you are writing to a special lady regularly, don’t wait for that reply. I used to try to write almost every day if I could. Sometimes the mail would back up and she might get 10 , 20, or more letters at one time. Even if you use e-mail, I would still send those snail mail letters, even short notes, on a regular basis. It really shows that you care.

Photos are always welcome and they really appreciate those cards. They don’t need to be mushy and the humorous ones are a big hit. Be creative and try to make them laugh. And always try to keep your letters on a positive note. They really don’t want to hear you complaining about your day at the office or about your ex-wife.

One final tip: ALWAYS assume that several people will be reading your letters and even your e-mail, so watch what you write! ;-)

Ray

No problem. That’s what we’re all about here. Helping each other and sharing opinions. We do get a little crazy sometimes with the weird humor but it’s all in fun.

So you met your new pen pal through a friend in the States? That’s how I met my wife also, through her Filipina 1st cousin who is married to an old Navy buddy here in San Diego. Like you pointed out, I think it really does help to have common acquaintances because you both at least have some advance knowledge of the other and have someone to vouch for you. That helps increase your odds of finding a good one and also makes it a lot less scary for the lady.

If you are a “nice guy” like you say, then you should do real well with the Filipina ladies. That’s usually their number one priority, a guy who is honest, humble, respectful, and treats them like a lady. A little humor also goes a long way too.

Where is your new friend from in the Phils?

Ray

Instead of digging out those old National Geographics, try Expedia Maps at:

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=mmfn

Select World Topographic Maps and then enter:  (place name), Philippines

That should keep you busy for a while. Also, make sure you spell it ‘Makati’ when you search.

Ray

I’ve been married for a little over a year and a half now. Before that, I was married to another Filipina for 23 years.

I’ve been in and out of the Philippines probably around 30 times since 1968. I was in the Navy for 20 years so I got free rides most of the time :-)

Ray

Cavite City is part of Cavite Province and is located just south of Manila. Her address will have the province listed after the city.

I don’t know why it doesn’t come up on Expedia? Here’s another map that shows Cavite City.

http://doctor.nl2k.ab.ca/~gabada/maps.htm

Ray