Are Disabled Expats Welcome Here? 🇵🇭

Introduction to William Drinkwater

0:01 They're all friendly, everybody's friendly. If you're in a wheelchair, get some dumbbells. A disabled person may think, 'Well, they'll see me, they won't bother me.' It's just the opposite. It's not Chicago. People couldn't figure out how to get through an intersection with traffic lights. We're near the equator and things can get hot. That's just life. There's a lot of problems there now, and inflation looks like it's going to be serious.

0:20 I had a bad accident. I was unconscious for almost a half hour. Hey YouTube, Alex here, and in today's interview, I want to introduce you to my friend William Drinkwater. Will is an American expat who's been living here in the Philippines for many years. Will is a veteran of the U.S. Military and wants you all to know that his disability is non-service connected. He actually developed his disability from a skydiving accident.

0:48 Will has lived all over the United States and spent a considerable amount of time in other parts of the world before coming to live here in the Philippines. I hope you enjoy this video. Without further ado, let's get into it.

Common Disabilities and Misconceptions

1:01 Hi Will, can you introduce yourself please? Uh, sure. My name is Bill Drinkwater. I've been here in the Philippines for eight years and I've spent four of those eight years in Dumaguete. I am disabled, and so I'm kind of aware of what happens with disabled people here. So I have a few bits of information that might be helpful.

1:20 What are the most common disabilities here? I don't know. I don't see many people on crutches, and I only see even fewer in a wheelchair, but there are some. I suspect that the most common disability might be one of those invisible ones. I think a lot of people have PTSD and may not even know it, either from childhood trauma or from military combat. I think that's very common.

1:47 But that's a different type of disability. I can't talk much about that because I don't know how to deal with that except to go to people who are counselors and psychologists and such. And people can do that here. So if they have that problem, also there's a strong expat community that's very supportive. So they can always talk to other expats, and you can still have a good life here. You just have to be patient, very patient in the Philippines, and don't ever lose your temper. That's all.

Deemphasizing Disability and Social Interaction

2:18 And that's other than that, you'll get along fine here. What are the common misconceptions that expats with disabilities face? That's a good question. I'll go down to the attitude section. The first thing that a person should do if they're physically disabled and they come here is deemphasize your disability. Don't make it the center of your life.

2:37 Everyone you meet, everyone you talk to, you want to talk about your disability. Then that's not a good idea because people really aren't interested, and you always can scare people because they realize, 'Wait a minute, I could become disabled someday.' And it puts the idea in their head, and they don't like that. So it's better just not to talk about it. Ignore it. Act normal.

3:00 And you'll get along just fine with people a lot better. Also, very important is don't feel sorry for yourself because life is a series of ups and downs for everybody. Everybody goes through hell a few times in life, and so you don't know the other person you're talking to. You don't really know their background and their life. They've had hard times too.

3:22 You know, a lot of guys who come here now from the US have been through like three marriages and three divorces and all kinds of trauma. And so you have to be compassionate with other people and don't be overly compassionate with yourself. When you meet people who are not disabled, let's say you go to an expat bar, an expat sports bar, and you want to have a beer, you have a bottle of water, whatever, you meet someone, you talk to them. You have to initiate the conversation very often. They are not going to because they don't know what to say to a disabled person.

3:59 And many people believe that if a person is physically disabled, they're also automatically mentally disabled. And so they don't want to talk to you unless you talk to them first. And it's easy. It's easy with expats because there are two questions. You walk up to someone you've never met before, you know they're an expat, and you say, 'Where are you from?' And then the second question is, 'How long have you been in the Philippines?'

4:27 And then you take it from there, and you sit down at a table and you shoot the breeze. You talk for a half hour, an hour, two hours, and it's great. You have these great conversations, but you have to initiate it yourself and let them know that you're okay mentally, that you are a normal person, except for the fact that maybe you have an arm missing or you're on crutches or something.

4:47 With a wheelchair, it's more difficult, of course, because of the mobility. It's harder to get around. But it's the same thing with that. You talk to people, let them know you're normal, let them know you're okay. And so that's a good way to do it.

Service Animals and Pets

5:02 Now, let's see. I've got some more things here. Service animals. If you have a service animal, don't worry, bring it with you. You can easily bring a service animal on an airline to the Philippines or almost anywhere in the world nowadays. Also, your pet, if you have a dog or a cat, you can bring it. All you have to do is get some official paperwork from a veterinarian stating they've had a rabies shot and a couple of other things.

5:30 Don't leave your pet behind. Visit really important. Service animals, of course, then people have these animals that are psychological companions for them that they need. And then other people just have an ordinary pet, a dog or a cat. You can bring them. You can bring them all, and that's really, really important. It's not real expensive and it's well worth it.

5:51 And the other thing, of course, after you're living here for a while, you say, 'Wait a minute, I'd like to have a little dog.' Well, you can have a little dog. You know, you have to talk to your landlord to make sure it's okay, and then you can have a dog or a cat or whatever. And if you do get a pet, which will give you a lot of solace, especially if you're homebound part of the time, if you don't have good mobility, you're disabled, you're home, you have your dog or your cat. You know, you can play with them, you can love them, and it makes it less onerous to stay at home.

6:22 You say, 'Ah, I spent a lot of time in my apartment or something.' Well, you got a pet. The pet loves it. Longer you stay there, the more the pet loves you. You know, so that's really important. Puts a lot of love in your life and a lot of good feelings. It lowers your blood pressure to pat an animal. That's proven. So it's really good.

Humility and Equality with Locals

6:41 Also, a very important thing is to stay humble. Remember, we're all human beings, and we're all basically equal. We have different experiences. You may go out in the mountains in the Philippines and meet a guy who has a second-grade education, but he's going to know how to grow rice. He's going to have a lot of skills that you don't have. He's another human being. He should be treated as an equal.

7:04 If you look down upon people, especially on Filipinos, you're not going to have a pleasant time here. You know, you just have to be nice to everyone, and Filipinos love expats. Most of them really do, and they're very friendly. And it's a very friendly society. And so there's no sense ruining that by thinking that you're superior to them or something, because no one is superior to anyone else. And you don't know what they've been through. You know, they've had hard times too. So we're all the same, really.

Dealing with Beggars

7:33 There are some beggars here. A disabled person may think, 'Well, they'll see me, they won't bother me.' It's just the opposite. They'll come after you. They'll see you as vulnerable, and they'll want to get some change from you. Well, that's up to you, whatever you want to do.

7:47 I have evolved to the point where when I go somewhere, if there are any beggars around, they, I'm like a magnet, they come right to me. That's because I usually don't have a Filipino with me. If you have a Filipino with you, she wards them off and protects you from everything. But they come to me. My criteria is if they're in the same shape I'm in or worse, then I'll give them 100 pesos. I'll be generous with them.

8:12 But if it's a 30-year-old guy who comes running up to me and sticks his hand out and demands money, I don't owe him anything. He's in better shape than I am. I have no reason to do anything. So that's my criteria. Everyone should have their own criteria. I used to give money to all the beggars, but you can't do that because the next time you go to that location, there's more.

Eye Protection and Sunglasses

8:34 If a 30-year-old guy comes running up to me, he's in great shape and he demands money, I don't owe him anything. I worked hard for my money. But someone's like me, I'm happy to help him. Very generous. If we're looking at health, the first thing I would recommend, and not many people think of this, the sunlight is very, very bright here because it's coming almost straight down from the sun. We're almost on the equator.

9:03 You've got to have good sunglasses. You really do, especially from a northern climate. Your eyes aren't adjusted to it. But don't buy cheap sunglasses. Make sure the sunglasses you buy are UVA and UVB protected. That means ultraviolet light is prevented from getting through the sunglasses into your eyes. Because what happens is when you put cheap sunglasses on, the pupils of your eyes open up wider because it's dark. They open up a little wider, and then the sunlight comes in and goes right into your eyes, and it'll do more damage than not wearing cheap sunglasses.

9:39 So you get a good pair of sunglasses. Cheap pairs...

9:44 A good pair of sunglasses, cheap pairs are about 90 cents, maybe an expensive pair is maybe 400 pesos and up, that's about $8 and up. So anywhere from a dollar and up, it's a really good idea to protect your eyes. Also, a good thing if your eyesight isn't really good in the distance, you know, normal when you're walking around, for heaven's sake, get prescription sunglasses. You know, or you can also get the kind that darken in the sunlight.

10:12 Of course, they have all that, they have everything here, just like everywhere else. But it's important to have good sunglasses. You can say, 'Oh, this one is polarized, this is a good one.' Well, you need the UVA and UVB protection. Don't worry about the polarization, you can get that or not, but that's not as important.

Health Insurance and PhilHealth

10:34 Another thing is PhilHealth. We have PhilHealth here. This is a system that whenever you are an inpatient in the hospital, it'll pay part of your bill. It's kind of a mystery how much they pay, but they do pay some. I had a colonoscopy a month ago, the hospital charged 16,000 pesos, which is about $320. They paid half of it, they paid 8,000 pesos. That's pretty good.

11:02 It costs about 16,000 a year, something like that. But I think it's worth it, and I've collected many times on it from all kinds of things. I've had lots of adventures here and got banged up a few times. So I think it's well worth it. Other health insurance as an expat is very expensive. If you're 70 or older, forget it, you won't be able to get insurance, it's just not available.

11:30 There are international plans that are available. By the way, the PhilHealth, you can't get it unless you are on the SRRV visa, which is a special resident retiree visa, or if you're on the husband visa or something, married to a Filipina. So as a tourist, you can't get that. You used to be able to, but said no. It doesn't make any sense.

Exercise and Physical Fitness

11:58 So that's a restriction you should know about. If you come here to live, don't forget to do some exercise. Your health is going to improve here, there's no doubt about it. People get younger the first couple of years they're here. Their body actually gets younger because they're under less stress, a beautiful climate, and it's a very healthy place.

12:17 Exercise a little bit. There's different kinds of exercise. An easy one and a great one. A really, really good one is to take a walk in the morning, 15 minutes, a half hour, an hour, whatever you want. Just go for a walk and come back early in the morning when the sun's coming up. There's some kind of health benefits from the early sunlight and the frequencies, I don't know about that. It's all on YouTube, but the important thing is you get some exercise first thing in the morning and you feel good.

12:48 What about gyms? There's all kinds of gyms here, lots of gyms. It costs an average of about $20 to $30 a month for a gym membership. You start going there for a while, you'll see all the young guys in there lifting heavy weights and stuff. Well, if you're older, you don't have to lift heavy weights, do whatever you can. Just relax and you'll be surprised.

13:09 Even these young guys, along with the older expats, you'll meet there, they're all friendly. Everybody's friendly. The Philippines love groups, they love organizations, they love their extended family. And if you're going to a gym, you become part of that cohort, that group of people, and everyone will be friendly. Everyone's just trying to be healthier here.

13:30 The difference is they're lifting, you know, they're doing dumbbells that weigh 50 pounds. You're doing dumbbells that weigh 10 pounds. It doesn't make any difference, you still get muscle gains with less weight. You just have to do more repetitions.

13:44 The health issue is so critically important as you get older, as your body weakens. Nothing is quite as efficient as it used to be. You can start realizing that you need more protein per day than you used to eat. It's very important because you'll lose muscle. Sarcopenia, it's called, when you start losing muscle as you age.

14:04 It starts maybe in your 40s, you lose a little bit every year. Well, you get in your 70s, you're losing 12 or 14% a year. And so what happens is you get skinny arms, you get skinny legs, and that's the sign that you're weakening from the sarcopenia. It's really nothing to worry about in early age.

14:24 But if you exercise as a lifestyle all the way through your life, you will never lose that. If you start losing it and say in your 70s, just go to a gym and start working out, and you can regain that muscle. You will not be affected by this sarcopenia, this aging process that takes away, melts away your muscles. And you'll keep your sense of balance and your body much stronger.

14:51 It's really good if you're in a wheelchair, get some dumbbells. They sell dumbbells here. I have two sets of dumbbells. I'll admit it, the first one is 3 pounds, the second one is 10 pounds. I can't use more than 10 pound dumbbells because I have an injured back. I've had five back operations, so I can't do it because of my spine.

15:12 But I use the tens. You know, I warm up with the threes. I use the tens. You know, I'll do 150 repetitions because I've done it for a while. But it's really good and you breathe deeply and it gets your lungs going, and you get plenty of oxygen. It's really good for you.

Exercise for Mental Health

15:31 So don't forget the exercising portion. You may say, 'I'm going to retire, I'm just going to lay around, take it easy.' Well, you can if you want to. But if you exercise, you'll feel great, you'll feel optimistic. Exercise eliminates depression.

15:44 You can go to a doctor, they have all kinds of medicines for depression. They're really not that good for you, and they're fake. They just cover the symptoms somewhat, and a lot of these medicines will make you dizzy too. That's no good going through life dizzy.

15:59 Hell, I had a friend who was riding a bike recently, he fainted. He was riding down the highway on his bike and he just fainted. I said to him, 'Did you survive the accident?' He said, 'Yeah, it was okay.' He said, 'But you know, I dumped the bike and I was skidding along the pavement.'

16:17 So some of these medicines, heart medicines are terrible for blood pressure. They slow your heart down, so guess what? Your brain doesn't get enough oxygen, so you're dizzy all day. I mean, I'm not a medical doctor, don't take my medical advice, but there are ways to naturally reduce your blood pressure, and I do that.

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

16:38 It's mostly through exercise. Another big thing here, of course, for a disabled expat or any expat, is nutrition. You can get all kinds of healthy foods here. And if you don't want to cook, you don't want to learn how to cook, you can hire someone to be a house helper. It doesn't cost much.

16:58 They'll cook your meals for you. You get the fresh foods at the public market, you get your vegetables, your meat, and your fish. If you go to the supermarket, you should remember that about 70% or more of the foods in the supermarket are processed. They have all kinds of chemicals in them, they're not good for you.

17:17 If you live a diet that comes out of a supermarket, like most people in America do, you may end up with a problem with your liver. You may have a non-alcoholic fatty liver. I discovered two years ago I had one. There's no medicine for it, but there is a cure, and the cure is to go on a great diet, something like the Mediterranean diet, which means a lot of fruits and vegetables.

17:42 And you get healthy. Mine is completely cured now. Completely cured. Nutrition is so at least maybe you'd want to take a multivitamin once a day. Okay, you can get whatever you want here. I take Centrum Silver Advance. Everyone knows that's a pretty good vitamin, I guess.

17:58 But anyway, I chose that one, and you choose whatever you want. But it's good to have a multivitamin because there are lots of little things, boron, manganese, all these strange things. You need a little tiny bit of that stuff in your body, and you might not be getting it from the food you're eating. So a multivitamin fills in those little gaps where you have a little bit of a deficiency, and you'll feel better for it.

18:21 Believe me, overall you'll feel better. So that's a really good idea, really important for a disabled person in particular. And you might want to take a little more protein per day if you're losing muscle from your arms, for example. That's a sign you're not getting enough protein, so you have to take extra protein.

18:40 Chicken, pork, beef, fish, whatever you can do for protein. Some avocados have a lot of protein. Extra virgin olive oil has a lot of stuff. I don't think it has protein, but it has a lot of good stuff for you, a lot of healthy fats. Yeah, very healthy fats, that's good to cook with.

Hearing and Emergency Information

19:03 Okay, another important thing is have good hearing. Make sure you can hear okay, because this is a very noisy culture. And if you can hear fine when you're talking to someone in a room somewhere, that's great. But then you go out in public and you can't understand anything people are saying.

19:23 What we do as old people, something that I discovered is we automatically teach ourselves lip reading. So when our hearing goes bad, the lip reading improves. And I discovered that when the pandemic hit and everybody put on a mask, when they put on the mask, I couldn't hear worth a damn. You know, I said, 'Oh man, I can't hear now.' Take your mask off so I can hear.

19:47 Cuz I have to. And I realized it, I was doing lip reading. I never knew that. And so people do that automatically to compensate. And if you're looking at someone and their mouth is moving, that helps you to hear. There's no doubt about it.

20:00 I'd never read that anywhere, but it's true. So you don't have to learn lip reading. You should get a hearing aid of some kind. And be careful because not all of the hearing aid companies are honest, and you can get a bad deal on that. I know.

Emergency Cards and PWD Discounts

20:15 This is about health. I recently created an emergency card with my name, where I'm from, and my birth date. It also includes my age, blood type, and Visa type and number. Additionally, it has my height, weight, and any medical problems I have, along with my address and phone number.

21:08 On the back of the card, I've included my house helper's name and phone number, noting she lives at the same address. The next edition will also include phone numbers for the police, fire department, hospitals, and ambulances. The card will also be smaller in the future.

DIY Accessibility Aids and Parking

21:24 I typed this information out, put it on a thumb drive, and took it to a printer. They printed it and laminated it between two pieces of plastic, creating a sturdy card. This card could potentially save your life in an emergency.

22:38 This serves as another form of insurance, costing very little. Another important item I created is a PWD (Persons with Disabilities) discount card. According to the government, you're not eligible for discounts if you're not a citizen, so this card helps.

23:05 If you want to use public transport like a motorcycle, you can have a hanger. In the US, we had car hangers for disabled people, but here, they don't have them for motorcycles. So, I made one myself.

23:31 This hanger has the basic PWD logo and a motorcycle symbol. It's about two-thirds the size of a car hanger. The most important part is at the bottom, where it has my name and states 'for exclusive use.' This prevents others from using it illegally.

24:10 I created these hangers using images from the internet, put them on a thumb drive, and had them printed and laminated. I punched a hole and added a rubber band to hang it on my bike. This has always worked, and no one has complained.

24:44 If you're coming here, you can do these things. I met another disabled veteran who offered me stickers with the disabled symbol to put on my bike or car. He said anyone who is disabled can have them.

Mall Accessibility and Helpful People

25:10 While you might not be authorized to get anything from the government, you can make these items yourself to avoid being hassled. Robinson's Mall in Daggett now has a new, small parking space for seniors and disabled people near the front entrance.

25:40 Otherwise, you have to park in the back and use the stairs or a ramp. Unfortunately, the ramp is too steep for me and probably most people, so I have to use the stairs, which can be risky with groceries.

26:05 When I come out with groceries, someone always helps me, either Filipino or one of the guards. It's nice to see people are always helpful. They came up with the idea of putting the smaller parking space up front, which is a good idea.

Safety from Street Gangs

26:27 There are no street gangs in the Philippines. It's important to know this because it's not like Chicago; you don't have to worry about going out at night and being jumped. The police handle any issues quickly.

Home Modifications and Bathroom Safety

26:56 There are broken sidewalks here, so don't count on them if you're in a wheelchair. When you rent an apartment, there are usually no grab bars in the bathroom unless you install them yourself. Landlords are generally agreeable to this.

27:21 They might ask if you'll leave them when you move out, but you can agree to do so. Grab bars are very important, especially since I sit in a chair when I shower. Reaching for the faucet could cause it to come out of the wall, as I learned from experience.

28:00 Having something to grab onto is much better, even if you're not disabled. Bathrooms often have tile floors and walls, making them slippery. If you fall, you could break an arm or leg, so grab bars are a good idea.

Transportation Challenges and Options

28:19 In terms of transportation, there are very few traffic lights or stop signs in the Philippines. When traffic lights were installed in one city, people had many accidents for about two months because they didn't understand how to use them.

28:57 There are no police chases here because the traffic is too crazy. We have tricycles, which are three-wheeled vehicles. However, they have a high step, making it difficult for me to get in and out.

29:41 Jeepneys are small vans with a high doorway, also making them difficult for disabled people to enter. There's a law that allows disabled individuals to ride in the passenger side of the cab. If the driver's wife is present, you might not be able to take that particular jeepney.

30:05 You can choose to ride a motorcycle or a scooter. Buying a car here would make finding a parking space incredibly difficult. If you ride a bike, you need to be very careful because the traffic system is different.

30:26 You have to be on your best behavior and aware of everything around you at all times. Cars, motorcycles, dogs, and people can come at you from all directions, which is a big surprise.

30:45 From all directions and the big surprise is something called counterflow. It's not legal. You're going down the highway and all of a sudden someone's coming at you right in your lane, and you have to deal with that sort of thing. It happens fairly frequently.

30:58 So, it's different. It takes about a year to get used to the traffic here. It took me a year and a half, actually. If you're comfortable riding motorcycles and can shift gears without thinking about it, you can ride a motorcycle here. If you have to think about shifting the motorcycle, you're going to have an accident because that will distract you from the traffic, and you have to be aware of everything instantly.

31:26 So, this scooter is what Honda sometimes calls an automatic motorcycle. Same thing as a motorcycle, same size, same CCs, everything, but they only have stop, go, a horn, and a turn signal. Your feet don't do anything. You don't have to think, and they work beautifully. That's the way to go if you come here on vacation and you're determined to drive on the streets, then rent a scooter.

31:53 I don't recommend renting a bike, but it's safe. I talked to a guy recently, another expat in his mid-70s. He said, 'I've been riding a bike here for two years. I've never had an accident.' And then he said, 'And I've never driven over 40 km an hour.' So there you are. I don't know what that is, 25 miles an hour or something, but that's good in the city. You'd never have to drive over 40 km an hour.

32:21 That includes some of the new electric vehicles that are on the market here. It's some little four-wheeled electrics, other three-wheel vehicles. There are lots of them. The venerable tuk-tuk from India has been on the market for about 70 years. They've perfected those. There are dealerships here for those. PUO has another one just like it, one front wheel and two in the back. Those things are reliable, they're great, they have power.

32:47 They're about 175 CCs for the motorcycles and scooters. You only need 125 to 150. You never need more than that to get around, even on these smaller bikes. When I had a 125, I drove all the way around this island, the periphery of this island. It took two weeks. It was great, no problem at all riding the bike.

Climate Considerations: Rain and Heat

33:12 So, okay, let's see what else we have here. Ah, one more topic. Okay, climate. The rainy season. It rains a lot. Actually, if your apartment floods and you're evacuated to somewhere like a gymnasium, there'll be hundreds of people. It's really fun. I had to do that in Baguio, and I met all kinds of local people, and it was an adventure. I would have stayed home otherwise for the day.

33:36 So I ended up going. And so some of these things aren't too serious. That was a typhoon that hit us. It did a lot of damage in the city. It flooded the city, but for me, it was an adventure. I guess I have a positive attitude. The rain is okay. You can survive it. Don't worry.

33:51 The heat. The heat is a different consideration. The heat is not only hot, but it's high humidity. I came from the state of Maine with snow and ice and all that stuff, 30 below zero Fahrenheit. It's okay. I adapted to the heat. It didn't take too long. Most of your time anyway as an expat, you're going to be in an air-conditioned apartment, or you're going to be in the mall that's air-conditioned, or some other building where it's air-conditioned.

34:17 If you're out riding a bike in the heat, that's air conditioning. The faster you ride the bike, the faster the air blows on you and cools you off. So the heat, you can deal with the heat. Sometimes there's an extremely hot day, and on those days, you can tell not only from the heat, but because Filipinos all around you, everybody, all the Filipinos will be complaining about the heat, and the expats won't be.

34:39 I think that's because they feel happy to be here. They're lucky to be here, so they don't complain so much. But on the really hot days, you hear people complaining. You spend a really hot day, and then the next day it's a little bit hot. The next day, by then you're wiped out, you're exhausted. You feel completely depleted. What you've done is you have sweated and you have peed out your electrolytes.

35:08 They're water-soluble electrolytes. You need to replace those. There are two ways to do that. One way is to go to the hospital and get an IV because if you are taken to the hospital for dehydration, you get an IV with the salts in it. Or the other way, which I think is a lot better, you go to any pharmacy and you get some of these oral rehydration packets.

35:37 This one has five salts: sodium, potassium, chloride, citrate, and glucose. Take this fine powder, put it in a glass of water, and drink it. Or take half of it and drink it. Whatever you want. It says on the back, 'This is as good as an IV and it doesn't cost you as much.' These are about 10 or 15 pesos, so it's 30 cents, 40 cents for one of these. You can buy as many as you want.

36:07 It's no problem. You don't need a prescription or anything. This is a great idea that most expats don't know about. The other thing you can do, of course, is you can go to a store and get a Gatorade, or you can get one from Japan called Pocari Sweat. They pronounce it 'sweet,' but it's spelled S-W-E-A-T.

36:30 So I don't drink that stuff, but anyway, the Gatorade has food coloring and some of it has sugar and different things in it. You get this stuff, you don't get all that bad stuff, you just get the good stuff, and it's a lot cheaper. What is a bottle of Gatorade? 65 pesos or something? It adds up. These things are very inexpensive and they're great.

36:53 And they have some that are flavored. These are unflavored. If you get the flavored one, then you're getting the food coloring again, and you don't really need it. Or they say, 'Oh, it's got a well, you get the flavoring too,' which is usually artificial and some more chemicals. So just get the unflavored ones.

Socializing and Appearance

37:08 And this, you take this stuff, and an hour later, you'll feel like you're a new person. Because getting dehydrated is not good, we're near the equator, and things can get hot. Okay, um, you want to, let's see, let's see here. Okay, do you want to stop there? I've got some other categories.

Socializing: Bars, Restaurants, and Food

37:28 Good, yeah, excellent. Will, so yeah, let's hear more about, okay, socializing. You're over here, you don't want to stay in your apartment alone and all that. Get out and meet people. So here are some hints for that.

37:42 One is, clean yourself up and have a good appearance, because everyone here does. You see these beautiful young ladies, they have beautiful clothing on. How do they do that? Because they work and they earn very little money. They don't have enough money to buy good clothing. Well, there's a system called 'ukay-ukay,' and that is surplus clothing from the West comes in. They bail it like bales of hay, they ship it in, but it's not all used clothing. Some of it is brand new.

38:09 So they pick out the brand new stuff and they get it for almost nothing. One of my girlfriends bought a beautiful kind of a sweater thing from Nike with a zipper in the front. It was beautiful. I bet it was $40 in the US. She paid the equivalent of 50 cents US for that, brand new. It's beautiful.

38:29 So that's why the young women are beautifully dressed in the city, because they can afford to, because it cost them almost nothing for clothing. But you also should be neat. If you have a bike, keep it clean. Have your bike washed or wash it yourself. And just have a good appearance.

38:42 And the other thing, of course, if you're an old man, please make sure that you trim your nose hairs and your ear hairs, because otherwise it's very noticeable and people will see it. And you might as well be neat. Keep a neat haircut, all that. Don't get a haircut at the mall; it'll cost you 3 or 400 pesos. For 70 pesos, you can get one on the street in the many, many barber shops.

39:07 Where can you socialize? Okay, there's a category of socialization called expat bars. They're often called expat sports bars, and they always have big screen TVs on the walls and different sports from around the world. You can go in and watch these, and you can have a beer or have a bottle of water or whatever you want. Most everybody is drinking beer, but if you drink a bottle of water like I do, nobody ever says anything.

39:33 So don't worry about it. If you don't drink, you can go to the bars and still enjoy yourself, have a conversation, watch the sports. They have some food in these bars, and it's pretty good. So I recommend some of those. There's a few of them around.

39:46 Restaurants. In a place like Dumaguete, there's all kinds of restaurants, and they're not as expensive as they would be in the US or somewhere else. Some of them are really, really good and really nice. And if you have a girlfriend or a wife, you can take her there, and she'll have a nice meal. You can enjoy it.

40:09 There are four or there were five Mexican restaurants here. I think there are four now, as an idea of ethnic restaurants. And there's an Irish restaurant now. There's all kinds of different Italian restaurants, different ethnicities here. Lots of Japanese restaurants, Korean restaurants, lots of things.

40:31 So you have a choice of lots of different kinds of restaurants. If you want to cook your own food, you can have friends come over. You can get whatever you want for good foods because there's a store here that sells imported foods. You can buy your steaks out of the US or from Europe. You can buy all of the imported foods that you're missing, your favorite kind of peanut butter, or your favorite biscuits from the UK or something.

40:57 They have all that stuff there, so you're not going to be homesick and missing on the foods. You can buy almost any.

41:03 You can buy almost any kind of food here. If you can't find something, you can always get a recipe off the internet and make it. Even if you have to do a few substitutions, you can still have a choice of foods here, so don't worry.

Philippine Cuisine and Cooking

41:13 If you like Philippine foods, you can have some. The Philippine adobo is really good. The food is plentiful, it's not expensive, and you have a wide-ranging choice. The smaller the place you live, like a village or city, the less choices you will have.

41:32 Do you feel that the foods here are less inflammatory than the foods you would have access to back in the US? No, it's the same because they all use vegetable seed oils, and those are inflammatory. When you cook your own food, you can use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil if you can find it.

41:53 I haven't been able to find avocado oil, but it's too expensive anyway. The extra virgin olive oil is bad enough price-wise. Yeah, I think all of the fried foods and stuff here are inflammatory, but you have to do some research on the internet and do a little homework to find out how you can avoid inflammatory foods. There's lots of advice for that online.

Socializing: Churches and Organizations

42:15 Another way of socializing is going to church if you're religious. The Catholic church is the biggest one here, but there are lots of other kinds of churches, like the Unitarian Universalist churches, which will accept anyone in their services, even if they're an unbeliever.

42:35 So you can always go to church and meet people. It's a good opportunity to meet people who are real, nice, and extremely friendly. In church services here, generally speaking, not many expats go, so they're happy to see expats and like to be friendly to them.

42:56 You can meet a lot of people that way. If you enjoy church, you can keep going and become a member, and you'll have lots of friends. There are also lots of organizations here, like the Masons, the Lions Club, and Rotary, which are everywhere.

43:17 If you know people well enough, you might be able to become an auxiliary policeman if they need it. I have a friend who's an expat who did that. There are also lots of other clubs, like motorcycle rider clubs. These are not gangs; they're organizations where guys like to ride their bikes.

43:37 Some are specific to one brand, and others are generic. You can join and then they go on little rides, maybe 20 kilometers, for the day to see some tourist site or something. You might have 10 or 20 people doing that.

43:57 Another option is bicycle clubs. There are a lot of bicycles here, and the people who join these clubs often have carbon fiber framed bikes. There are bicycle shops here that sell top-of-the-line bikes, so you can join one of them.

44:14 I had a friend who joined one and rode 39 kilometers in one day on a round trip with a bunch of guys. At the time, he was 73 years old and did pretty well. There are lots of different clubs.

44:28 There are lots of charities here because there are lots of poor people, and a lot of expats will join a charity. In some cases, they actually create one. They like to get into charities that help to feed children in schools or help to clothe children.

Charities and Courteous Behavior

44:46 They might throw a big party or something for them, like a spaghetti feed, to feed the kids. That's good because a lot of the kids don't get real good nutrition, so it's good for them to get that. It's always good to be a good expat and try to be courteous to people.

45:02 Do whatever you can so that people will like expats. What I do in that vein is I always stop at crosswalks and let people cross, and they're always happy about that. You can do things like that which helps out.

Using Facebook Groups for Information

45:15 Facebook is also very helpful. If you're coming here, you should have a Facebook page. I don't care if you don't like Facebook; create a page. You don't have to put a picture on it or even use your own name.

45:31 With Facebook, you will have access to Facebook groups, which are critical here. There are groups for news, for American veterans, and for restaurant reviews. You go to a restaurant, come back, and do a review whether you like it or not.

45:55 Be about that, but don't get vicious and brutal because there are laws here, cyber liability. You don't want to do any harm, but you can say, 'I didn't care so much for the meal.' Those groups are very helpful when you want to find a good restaurant.

46:13 You go to one of those groups, and they've got restaurants listed you've never heard of. You can find a restaurant easily that way, or you can ask questions about anything in these groups. Any question you have, like where to find a good frying pan or anything you want.

46:37 I consider those critical and really important. So if you don't already have a Facebook page, create one and take advantage of it, at least for the groups if nothing else.

Initiating Conversations as a Disabled Person

46:47 Meeting people: If you walk up to someone in the Philippines, say another expat, they don't know what to say because you're disabled. They just don't know what to say. How do they react? They don't normally walk around talking to disabled people.

47:03 So, you have to initiate the conversation. If you do that, then they will see that you're okay, you're physically disabled, not a mental case or demented. That just lets them know you're normal, and then they want to talk to you.

47:21 You're going to find that when you walk up to someone face-to-face, you're going to have to start the conversation. I walked up to Paul, the old dog guy, one night in a bar. He looked at me, didn't know what to say, and asked if he could get me anything.

47:43 I said, 'Yeah, get me some more videos. I love your videos.' But he didn't know what to say, and that's typical. What do you say to a person? People will ask after a while, particularly Filipinos. They don't hide anything; they'll say, 'Oh, what happened to you?'

48:01 Then you tell them, but don't hang on it. You say, 'Okay, that's that,' and change the subject. That's a good idea.

Vitamins and Supplements

48:10 I don't have much else to tell you, but most people from the US have a vitamin D deficiency. You can look this up on the internet. Vitamin D is very important; it's not really a vitamin, it's a hormone. You can talk to your doctor, and it's a good idea to supplement vitamin D.

48:35 They estimate that anywhere from 40 to 70% of Americans are short on vitamin D, especially in the winter, because you don't get enough bright sunlight, which helps your body create it. You also don't get enough in the foods sometimes.

48:51 That's something to look into. Do some research. One other medical thing that's really important for Americans, particularly, is omega-3 oil. There are a lot of foods that have omega-6, and it imbalances your body. You need omega-3 in the proper proportions.

49:07 You can talk to your doctor about that. Lots and lots, maybe 70% of Americans are estimated to be short on omega-3, so you want to seriously look into that. That'll help you to be healthier.

49:23 There are other supplements, and you can buy them here or order them from local Philippine-based companies like Shopee and Lazada, or you can just go to Amazon.com.ph.

49:38 You can order stuff from Amazon, and they ship it in. If it's under a certain dollar amount, there's no customs fee. So a lot of my friends order stuff from Amazon. You're not going to be lost if you come over here.

Medical Care and Prescriptions

49:51 You're in an island nation in the middle of the ocean, but you can get anything you want, anything you need. That's important.

49:57 That's about it. That's about all I have, except for some questions. Any final words? Well, yes, if you're contemplating coming to the Philippines and you're disabled, there are plenty of doctors here and plenty of places you can go.

50:12 If you want the top level of medical care, you can go to Manila. I had my fifth back operation here in Bolad, which is in the north of this island. It's a city there, and it turned out perfect. It was four years ago, and I haven't had any pain since.

50:30 I don't know if I should or not, but I'll tell you the doctor's name. It was at the Pablo Tor hospital, and he's a fantastic neurosurgeon. This guy is really, really skilled. His name is Mario Madesh, Dr. Mario Madesh. Fantastic surgeon, so don't be afraid of anything.

50:50 If you need certain medicines and once in a while you can't obtain them here, well, you can order them from somewhere else. If you're really smart, you won't order them from the US; you will order them from overseas. Get a prescription, then order them.

51:05 You get a prescription, then you order them from Mexico or from India. India is really inexpensive because they don't license them. They have a law where they just ignore all the world licensing because the Indians can't afford expensive medicines, so the country allows them to manufacture these medicines. You will save a ton of money if you do that.

Embracing Life and Travel

51:28 It's good here and you don't have to fear medical problems. We're all going to die, so you say, 'Gee, I might have a heart attack.' Yeah, well, we're all going to die. What difference does it make? When the Grim Reaper is following you around, that's just life. That's another part of life, so don't be afraid.

51:46 If you want to go overseas, go overseas. Come to the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam is good, or go somewhere else. You know, wherever you want to go in the Americas, there's a lot of good countries: Central America, South America, even Mexico. Mexico is a great country, great food, great people, beautiful place, wonderful, great culture.

52:11 America's got a couple hundred years of history, maybe 250 years. These other countries, they have a thousand years of history and culture. So you know, go see all the museums, go to the restaurants, it's great. So I would encourage people if you're thinking about leaving America because there's a lot of problems there now and inflation looks like it's going to be serious, then you can go live somewhere else on less money.

Freedom and Personal Growth

52:38 So congratulations if you have enough gumption to get up and go. It's not easy, it's more difficult if you want to ride a bike. I ride a bike, the reason I do is because it's my freedom, and I'm all for freedom. I have my crutches on the bike. If you're in a wheelchair, you can buy a lightweight, foldable wheelchair that you could just have a couple of pieces of twine or something and tie it on your bike, and you could ride around and just transfer to the wheelchair, and you could go around yourself. You would have your freedom.

53:11 I think freedom is the ultimate thing. So congratulations to anyone who thinks seriously about leaving. If your extended family discourages you, just ignore them because they probably never been anywhere outside the country. So just dare to live, dare to do things, dare to go and have adventures. If nothing else, you will have adventures.

53:41 But remember what Mark Twain said: when you travel, you carry your baggage with you. So you can go to another country and then you can start working on forgetting your past if you had things you want to forget about. And start living a new life. Develop more patience, relax, take your time, and you'll have a better life. And so it's worth it to have enough guts to get up and go. It's up to you, your choice.

Defying Limitations and Motorcycle Safety

54:09 They said, 'Well, yeah, you can, but you can't do that.' They said, 'You're 125 years too late.' I said, 'I'm going gold mining. I don't care.' People say you can't do that, then I do it. Whatever it is, whenever people tell me that, I change my life and I concentrate on doing whatever they say I can't do. It's just the way it is.

54:30 Everyone shouldn't be like that, but some people... oops, uh, what the hell is that? Oh, it's locked. Yeah, this is... oh, it's kind of dirty. I should have washed it. Our head... it washed. And this is the Honda Click.

54:53 This is the Honda Click 150, 125 is the standard for the industry. You want a really good bike that'll last forever, it'll go plenty fast enough. Fantastic. The Click 125, I don't know how much it is now. I think 77,000, maybe more than that. $100,000 is $2,000, so it's less than $2,000, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it is.

55:28 So you're able to jet around town on this, no problem at all? Absolutely no problem. I'm used to the traffic, actually. I drive a little faster than the average, and I do pass on the right and the left all the time. It's illegal to pass on the right, but everyone does it, so they can't stop them.

55:43 I never ever get on the bike without a helmet on. And you want safety? Here's safety, I'll show you. This is safety. Always buckle it under your chin, always. You see people here riding around all the time with a helmet with these things just hanging out there because the first thing that happens in a motorcycle accident is the driver and the helmet are separated. It's the first thing that happens, and that means you're going to smash your head into the pavement.

56:20 I had a bad accident. I was unconscious for almost a half hour here. I had a helmet on. Without the helmet, I wouldn't have lived.