You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?

There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!

Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!


Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!

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Wednesday, January 4, 2017

German Ambassador to the Philippines since December 2016

The Ambassador/Der Botschafter

Ambassador Gordon KrickeEnlarge imageAmbassador Gordon Kricke(© German Embassy Manila)
Curriculum Vitae:

Dr. Gordon Kricke
Born 18.12.1962 in Kiel, married
1982General qualification for university entrance
1982 - 1983Military service
1984 - 1989Law school
1989First state law examination
1989 - 1993Junior barrister
1991Doctorare in law
1993State bar examination
1993 - 1994Foreign service traineeship
1994 - 1995Ministry of Foreign Affairs, desk officer
1995 - 1998Embassy Buenos Aires, desk officer
1998 - 2000Embassy Maputo, Permanent Representative of the Ambassador
2000 - 2002Ministry of Foreign Affairs, desk officer
2003 - 2005Embassy Port-au-Prince, Ambassador
2005 - 2007Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Head of Division
2007 - 2008Political Adviser to the EU Special Envoy to Sudan, Juba
2008 - 2009Embassy Khartoum, Permanent Representative of the Ambassador
2009 - 2011Embassy Mexico City, Head of the German Information Office for Latin America and Spain
2011 - 2013Embassy Niamey, Ambassador
2013 - 2016Head of the EU Delegation Luanda
December 2016Embassy Manila, Ambassador
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(During Day of United Celebration in Manila October 2016)

Boat Races and Building Your Own Shelter

Boat races and building your own shelter: An island-hopping Philippines adventure challenge

Forget fly-and-flop beach breaks, a new breed of holiday pits you against other travellers and pushes you to the limit
Click to follow
The Independent Travel
It started with just one drop, then very quickly a million more followed. The sound of rain hurtling through palm trees and thudding into the sand beneath my hammock was as effective as any alarm, and before I knew it, at 3am, I was wide awake. 
It rapidly dawned on me that the shelter I’d built for myself wasn’t quite up to scratch - and I was getting seriously wet. Unsure how to react, I looked around for inspiration and realised I wasn’t alone. It turned out most of the group I was travelling with were equally useless at building a shelter. On this island in the Philippines, in this most unfamiliar of predicaments, we all reacted the only way we could - we laughed. 
This abrupt awakening was the conclusion to a long, testing day - the third of nine spent sailing around the practically untouched islands off the popular tourist destination of Borocay in central Philippines. The day had started with nine teams made up of varying nationalities, backgrounds and ages racing from one palm tree-covered island to another, sailing aboard a traditional tri-maran boat called a paraw, which skimmed over turquoise blue seas. 
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Paraws moored at the beach (Simon Rice)
The Philippines Sailing Challenge is the creation of Large Minority, a company which has been organising tuk-tuk races across Sri Lanka and Cambodia, and from March this year will also have groups boating down the Amazon. The concept of their trips sees teams not only race, but compete against each other over various other challenges that test competitors and encourage interaction with the local community. Points and times are totalled up during the trip and a winning team is crowned at the end.
That third day, we arrived on a picture-postcard white-sand beach thinking the day’s race was over, only to be informed the clock was still ticking. We still had to locate the market and bring back ingredients to make ourselves a traditional dinner. So off we went - no map, little money and some optimism. 
Having just enjoyed a cool breeze aboard the paraw, it was easy to forget the humidity and searing sun baking the Philippines. Sweaty, confused and dirty, a ride into the nearest town on the back of a local’s motorbike was agreed. We haggled over unrecognisable vegetables to make a dish never before cooked and returned to camp, where the clock was eventually stopped. But still the challenge wasn’t over. 
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The group gathers for a beach bonfire (Beaumerrr)
It was then time to make a bed for the night - stringing hammocks between palm trees, ensuring they were adequately covered (which, as it turned out, most weren’t) and decorating them. One team built a bamboo structure that looked as though it could withstand a storm (a test which it successfully passed later that night), however most teams focused on style over substance. One spent their time building a bar made from a surfboard and another constructed a bowling alley with coconuts for balls and empty beer cans for pins. 
What just a few hours earlier was little more than a clutch of palm trees on a beach had become a humming village that could sleep 25 people. The shelters were then judged and points awarded, before an assessment of the dinners (of greatly varying quality), which had been cooked over little fires under nothing but the moonlight and glow of mobile phone screens.
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Sleeping under the stars (Beaumerrr)
This was how the majority of the nine days of the trip were spent - race, challenge, relax, drink, eat and sleep (when not getting wet). 
The adventure travel market is among the fastest growing in tourism, perhaps thanks to TV shows such as The Island and I’m a Celebrity, in which participants are pushed to their limits - both physically and mentally. It seems for increasing numbers of people lying on a beach for two weeks just doesn’t cut it anymore. They want to be tested, and pushed.
Among the lures of such getaways is the promise of getting under the skin of a country. Each team on this trip - made up of either two or three people - had a designated paraw manned by a local captain and three members of crew (which meant, thankfully for me and most of the others, no sailing experience was required to take part). 
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paraw off Borocay island (Simon Rice)
The time at sea together - usually three or four hours, depending on the wind - led to genuine friendships being formed. The bonds were then reinforced when teams stayed at the home of their captain. One team slept in a small house on the beach, another in a treehouse-like construction overlooking paddy fields, while I was welcomed into a simple home buzzing with the energy of the captain and his family’s unbearably cute young children. It allowed those on the trip to better understand another way of life - almost certainly one that was simpler than their own.
Then there is the adventure itself. Sailing conditions varied wildly - switching between tranquil, when one could marvel at the clarity of the blue water and admire the beauty of the islands from afar, to rough, when high winds and huge waves meant holding on tight - or risk being swept from the boat. 
On the green islands we jumped from rocky cliffs into the clear water below, caught fish for our dinner and for those who dared (I admit, my partner took one for the team) ate a balut - a local delicacy consisting of a hard-boiled egg with a fully formed chick in it. Fancy dress days and imaginative photo and video tasks only added to the brilliantly organised chaos. 
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The brave among the group jumped from cliffs (Simon Rice)
This kind of travel isn’t for everyone - some might not like the exhaustion, uncleanliness and uncertainty of what’s in store. But the rewards that come with challenging oneself, immersing yourself in an unfamiliar culture and daring to try new things is worth it.
Travel essentials
Getting there
Manila is served by carriers including Philippine Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
From there take an internal flight to either Caticlan on Cebu Pacific or Kalibo on Air Asia. Local transfers can be arranged upon arrival to take you to Borocay.
Adventuring there
Large Minority’s next Philippines Sailing Challenge takes place 22-30 April. The price starts at £1,452 per person (based on a team of three), including accommodation, most meals, boats, crew, training and sailing lessons, plus all essential equipment.
More information

Happy New Year 2017!

Happy New Year 2017!

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring
Sweet words are easy to say; nice things are easy to buy; but good people are different to find. Life ends when you stop dreaming; hope ends when you stop believing; friendship stops, when you stop sharing. A good friend of mine sent me this quotation. I commented back: So very true and very well said!
A new year has just begun. We’re thinking back. We deleted friends and connections. Some mutual friends – not only in Facebook –  didn’t remain as mutual. Some good new relationships have begun and made possible because of a mutual acquaintance.  Or, we’re looking forward renewing relationships. Some season greetings brought back special memories.
Keep in mind, our life is borrowed – from God.This is going to be a little bit complicated now, so keep going. No rental charges are collected from us. Many of us have forgotten this and live life at his fullest. Our life is equal to a book from a library that lends one. But how insatiable and unbearable are we in disdainful acting towards life and therefore to ourselves?
Life seems to be nothing, just being ready to riddle one with bullets. Life seems to be nothing, just being broken through the indifference and unreliable and immoral behavior. Life seems to be nothing for those people who don’t understand cries from the heart of other people around them – cries for their hearts and families, for justice and for many other things.
Life with all its ups and downs, is just a loan, but for many of our fellow creatures it just seems to be nonsense to be littered like dump. And, if people try to survive, especially during these days, and if they just experienced (once more!) indifference, arrogance, ignorance or cheating by whomever – they will give up!
I can assure you that every one of us can at first help in prayers and, in reading the Bible. “Proverbs” is the probably most down-to-earth book in the Bible. Its teachings prepare you for the daily life, the street and the market place, but not for the schoolroom. The book offers warm pieces of advice you get; practical guidance for making your way on earth. Proverbs covers any kinds of questions you might have right now. Anybody can relate to the generalities of Proverbs, because this book simply tells how life works most of the time.
“Let’s enjoy every single loophole in law?” What a sad and fatal attraction! This shouldn’t be the beginning of the new year 2017!

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