The sun is shining:

[taximan007]

Mixed emotions

Weds 2nd May 2013
 
We have been here at home now for just over 2 weeks and have just under 2 weeks of our holiday remaining. It has been great to see all the family and friends again especially to see how the children have grown in the 14 months since we were last here.

I had forgotten just how bloody hot it gets here during April & May, +30° every day, all I want to do is sleep, have to say Daniel has adapted well and doesn’t seemed fazed at all, although the aircon bill will be higher from now on.

As much as I am happy to be home it has been a fairly stressful trip so far, doing any sort of official business here is such a drama, never seems to run smoothly and because I am aware of this I am usually stressed even before attempting anything. Roxanne is not much help when it comes to anything official as she has always had people to do it for her before or she believes she can ‘buy whatever she needs’ which is probably true but not the way I want to conduct things.

The main thing we wanted to do was to file the papers for Daniel to become recognised as a Filipino citizen, trying to be organised I emailed the Immigration Bureau here in advance and asked them all the relevant questions (so I thought) and they were kind enough to respond with a list of documents required and also saying the papers could be filed at SubPorts (offices) which is ideal as there is one here in our City.

On arriving at the SubPort and explaining what we wished to do they looked at us as if we had come from another planet saying they didn’t process papers there and we needed to go to Manila, I told them I understood they didn’t process but we just wanted to FILE the papers and they would send them to Manila (as explained in the email I received and showed to them), still no favourable response and told us to come back the following Wednesday when an official from Manila would be there and maybe he would take the papers for us.

So the following Wednesday we returned and saw said officer who seemed a bit vague but in fairness made a couple of calls to Manila and then said he would check our documents and if in order would take them for us. This is when we find out the Immigration people in responding to me forgot 1 vital piece of info and that was that we needed to get Daniels birth certificate authenticated at the Philippine Embassy in LONDON BEFEORE we travelled!!!!

Luckily the same officer from Manila on checking our passports explained that because we came through with Roxanne we have Balikbayan (returning Filipino) status stamped which allows 12 months stay, so Daniel is fine and we will try again when we return in January next year..............

I will report some more later but for now I include a few pics of stay so far.

[taximan007]

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[Laxie]

He's such a cutie!  Glad you got there safe and hope you enjoy the next couple of weeks.  xx

[Eso Kral]

Great Pics Graham!

Still my favourite read on here.

[RED-DOG]

I feel like saying you're a lucky sod Graham, but the truth is, I know it's down to hard work, not luck.

[taximan007]

5 Years

Monday 6th May 2013

Yes it’s really 5 years ago that I started this thread and I guess a fair bit has happened since then otherwise I wouldn’t still be writing here.

In some respects I feel as I have achieved quite a bit, certainly more than I would have expected when I touched down at Heathrow on that sunny morning in 2008, in other respects I do feel frustrated that financially I am nowhere nearer my end goal now then I was on that morning.

Now of course we are approaching what has certainly been the hardest decision for me in the last 5 years and that is that we will be returning to Guernsey next Wed/Thurs minus Daniel!!

The decision was made for us really although if I had decided to return to the UK things may have been different (I’m not entirely convinced about that).

Firstly I must say the management at the Hotel have been absolutely fantastic about the whole episode allowing Daniel to stay with us in our room for the 1st three months and the staff have loved having him there coming to visit when they could and spoiling him with loads of presents.

Renting property in Guernsey is not an option as far as we are concerned as it is way too expensive, and Daniel staying in the Hotel was never going to be a long term option so it was either a case of finding work in the UK and having to rent somewhere but due to our present commitments this wasn’t something I looked at very seriously.

Those of you who follow regularly will know Danilo (Roxanne’s father) has been undergoing dialysis treatment for the past 6 months or so which he needs twice a week and of course which we are supporting him with, having seen him this past month it is money well spent in my opinion.

This costs us £122 per week on top of that he needs his medicines and of course we also support the family with the utility bills and whatever is left over goes on food  This runs out at around £600 per month so it doesn’t take a lot of working out that Roxanne still needs to be working full time in order for us to maintain all of this and it doesn’t leave a great deal over IF we were to rent in the UK, so as we are both very happy in Guernsey and a certain sense of loyalty to the Hotel kicks in this is where we plan to continue living and working.

I knew when the time came for us to return it was going to be hard for Roxanne but I thought I would be able to be look at things from a practical point of view and would be OK but these past few weeks here with Daniel are telling me different and it is honestly breaking my heart every day, but life must go on as they say.......

[Geo the Sarge]

Thinking of you, Roxanne and the family in the Philippines at this terrible time.

Hope all is well

Geo

[taximan007]

Thinking of you, Roxanne and the family in the Philippines at this terrible time.

Hope all is well

Geo

Thank you George.

The family are all fine, fortunately they are far enough North that they weren't affected, until we told them the news and showed them pictures they weren't even aware of the devastation in Tacloban and Cebu.It really is a lottery this time of the year with the high winds/typhoons as to where they will hit although the majority of them do seem to hit the South and Centre of the country.

Roxanne has been very upset these last few days watching the news here and feeling useless in being unable to help her fellow countrymen, it is at times like this her religious beliefs come to the fore and alot of her day is spent praying.

Our hope now is that ALL the aid that is being sent actually reaches the people that NEED IT, it is at times like this that the 'bad side' of certain Filipinos (mainly high up officials) shows up as if they think they can get some sort of personal gain they will!!!

On happier news, Daniel is well just turned 10 months old and this morning on Skype we saw him take his first solo steps 

this is a recent pic of him...

[Laxie]

Awwwww, he really is adorable!  I'm so glad they're safe.  x

[taximan007]

This past year

Sunday 01 December 2013

Christmas is approaching and as I haven’t written much this year (not much of interest) I thought I would give a recap of the past year.

The last 12 months have without doubt been the hardest since my return in 2008.

The year obviously started on a high with the birth of Daniel, then came the biggest low when we had to leave him behind with the family after our holiday in May. We are lucky enough to be able to see him on Skype at least once a week and keep up with his progress, last month at 10 months he took his first steps = very proud parents.

It has always been our wish/plan to go home in January to be able to be with him for his 1st birthday and also Cean and Roxanne’s Fathers birthdays at the beginning of February.

The other hardship this year has been the financial one, because of the timing of everything it has only allowed us 7 months to finance the trip home, on top of that Roxanne’s Fathers dialysis treatment is ongoing and all the other bills etc have to be met, and with the exchange rate being crap all year we have found ourselves sending home £700+ each month.

In October we also needed to renew Roxanne’s visa which we did successfully at the cost of £576

On top of that we have a life to live here, and it was never my intention for Roxanne to be here and live and work like a slave so I have tried best I can to get the balance right.

Having received October’s salary I found ourselves in the position where we could buy tickets for the flight home, but we were still short of the cost for the Guernsey flights and other travel/hotel costs needed.

This is when the Hotel and in particular the GM came in to their own. My prize for Hotel Manager of the Year included 2 nights Hotel accommodation in London plus return flights from Guernsey, so having had a chat with the GM he agreed to us taking ALL our annual leave in one go this means we can be at home long enough to attend both the ‘important’ birthdays, he also arranged that we will use the 2 days in London at the beginning of our hols and therefore covering the cost of the Guernsey flights.

I have so much respect for this man, not just because of this but because of the kind of person he is in general and without doubt the reason I am still at the Hotel, loyalty works BOTH ways.

So there we are, we will leave Guernsey Jan 4th, fly home on the 6th and actually arrive at home all being well late on the 7th, returning to Guernsey on Feb 8th.

In other news Roxanne has moved from housekeeping to the restaurant in the last month and appears to be very happy in her new role.

Southampton are flying in the Premiership (flying by Saints standards)

So although I have spent the best part of the last 12 months feeling pretty low and inadequate in the way I can or cannot provide for my family I do have to be honest and say that overall;

The sun is shining.......

[RED-DOG]

You are the man Graham.

Hero status confirmed.