Product Description

A practical guide about life and love in the Philippines; a no holds barred, no subjects avoided, non sugar coated look at all aspects of Expat life, love and sex in the Philippines. Are you a middle aged man not ready to give up on fun? Are you divorced and alone? Do you crave a younger sexy woman but don’t have any hope in your own country? If so, this book can help you in two ways; it can help you to find a Filipina wife to bring back to your country or it can help you to start a new life and adventure in the Philippines! This book is chockfull of practical information such as: The best places for Expats to live; How to find women while in the Philippines; The culture and psychology of Filipina women; The legal system and it’s dangers; Prostitution, entertainers and massage; Buying property and building a house; Immigration/ Visa laws; How to handle your money; About medical facilities; Estimated living expenses; Culture and history; and much more!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84146 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-09
• Released on: 2009-03-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 348 pages

About the Author
Larry Elterman was born in Boston Massachusetts and grew up in the Boston area. He attended the University of Massachusetts and graduated with a combined degree in mathematics and computer science. As an adult he was a software engineer and lived the typical American baby boomer yuppie life style. That is, until he decided to start a new life, a new adventure – in the Philippines.

Customer Reviews

Comparing Four Books About the Philippines
I hope to visit the Philippines in the near future with an eye towards possible retirement in the Philippines. To educate myself I have ordered and read four books about the Philippines, namely:

Philippines Travel Guide - by Jen Peters
Culture Shock Philippines - by Alfredo Roces
A Long Way to go for a Date - By Henry Makow
A Man's Guide to Life and Love in the Philippines - By Larry Elterman

"Philippines Travel Guide" is just that, a Travel Guide, pure and simple, and an excellent one at that. It will tell you about all the places to go, where to eat, where to stay, where to have fun. However it does not offer a lot of insight or practical information about what it would be like to live or retire in the Philippines.

"Culture Shock Philippines" is a book written by a Filipino, from a Filipino's point of view, describing Filipino culture, customs and history. If this is what you are looking for it is an excellent book. However, it is written from a Filipino's point of view, not a Westerner's point of view. It does not offer a lot of practical advice about what it would be like to live or retire in the Philippines.

"A Long Way to go for a Date" is a short and light weight book about a man's quest to find the perfect Filipina bride to bring back to his home country of Canada. It describes his visit to the Philippines to meet and date his potential bride and his experiences in bringing back and living with his Filipina wife in Canada. Ultimately it describes how it all went wrong and turned into a nightmare. This book is written in the first person by the author, Henry Makow, and although Henry sometimes comes across a bit pompous and selfish, I never-the-less like what he did, which was to "put himself out there". It is a very personal account in which Henry is not afraid to say who he is and what he wants, even if you don't agree with it. This book is very light on practical information, but it will give you some nice insight into the process of finding a Filipina wife. However, it was Henry's goal to find a wife to bring back to Canada, not to live in the Philippines, so it did not correlate perfectly with what I was looking for.

"A Man's Guide to Life and Love in the Philippines" like "A Long Way to go for a Date" is also written in the first person, but unlike "A long Way" the author does not "put himself out there". He describes things from more of a distance, so that you never really get to know who the author is. This is my only criticism of the book. Perhaps it would have been a bit more entertaining if it was a bit more personal. That being said, the book never advertises itself to be a book about the experiences of the author, it claims to be a "Guide" about life and love in the Philippines, and on that level I think it succeeds very well. It contains a great amount of information both about what it's like to live in the Philippines and about the practical side of making a life for yourself in the Philippines. It also describes in much detail the process of how to go about finding a Filipina girl friend or wife. In this regard it is interesting how he doesn't just lump all Filipina together as homogenous. He describes a number of different types of Filipina women and what each of them is like and what they are looking for. In terms of my goal of possibly living and retiring in the Philippines this book was by far the best match.

Fun to read
With the exception of a few chapters like: How to use internet applications (zzz), how to buy a house in the Philippines (not interested) and how to buy a cell phone in the Philippines (I'll cross that bridge when I come to it) I found most of this book pretty entertaining and interesting.

The book provides plenty of information without taking itself too seriously and has a nice sense of humor to it. The book also doesn't shy away from any topics, the kinds of things you wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

This is not a "travel book", this is a "what's it like and what you can expect" book.

Feels like an honest view
The thing I really like about this book is that I feel it has no agenda. It's not trying to convince you to go to the Philippines, and its not trying to convince you not to. It's like saying, I did it and here is what you can expect, the good, the bad and the ugly. It's up to you.

This is a big difference from some of the material I have been reading. It seems like most of the things I read have an agenda, mostly of promoting the Philippines. With this book there is plenty of good and plenty of bad.

If you are seriously thinking about a long visit or retirement in the Philippines this book will give you a good sense of what it will be like. Definitely worth reading.