Why I Still Like It Here: Reason # 1 - Household Help

One reason living abroad was not such an appealing option for me, is the lack of househelp.  I already grew up being treated by my mother like a maid, so my brothers and I definitely did not want that US application to be approved since in the US, there are no maids, and a lifetime doing the washing, cleaning the toilet, etc, was not something I was dreaming about.  And I'm gay so I could not marry a woman to do those chores like what most straight men would do - marry women, and make them their maids.  I didn't have that option. So I just had to be succesful here in the Philippines so I could afford people to do the chores I did not like to do.

Now, my household staff outnumbers the total number of people in the house!  Even with two children, they still do.  Each kid has a nanny, there's a cook, and there's someone who cleans the house, since the house is huge and has so many rooms.  Then there's one driver to drive the kids to school.  So that's five people helping us run the house as opposed to just four family members.  I am always thankful for their help and we treat them like family.  They have their own TV sets and rooms so they can have their own privacy.  The nannies stay with the kids and have aircon in their rooms.  It's usually the monthly food bill that is a bit expensive but I've told my brother, if you want to live in comfort, you'd have to pay for those things.  And anyway, we eat the same food as them.  In the long run, they help me do the things I want to do so they can do the stuff I don't want to do.  And I go home to a room that looks like a hotel everyday and have hot breakfast ready when I wake up.  So living in the Philippines isn't so bad!