The blahblah of the forum

[johnh]

Kota Kinabalu is an amazing place we stayed at a hotel in the city can't remember it's name that had a buffet with the most incredible display of food I've ever seen. Are you planning a trip to Sepilok ? We went there & also the caves where the locals get the birds nests from, if you there beware of the guano & the roaches. The whole of the Sabah region is beautiful. Just remembered we were taken to see a rafflesia plant, incredible plus we actually saw wild Orangutans. Enjoy

Pretty sure we stayed at Le Meridien hotel

Thought I'd been there but couldn't remember exactly where it was. Googled it and found it is in ex Borneo. I was thinking it was in ex Malaya!

[Deleted User 1022]

Kota Kinabalu is an amazing place we stayed at a hotel in the city can't remember it's name that had a buffet with the most incredible display of food I've ever seen. Are you planning a trip to Sepilok ? We went there & also the caves where the locals get the birds nests from, if you there beware of the guano & the roaches. The whole of the Sabah region is beautiful. Just remembered we were taken to see a rafflesia plant, incredible plus we actually saw wild Orangutans. Enjoy

Pretty sure we stayed at Le Meridien hotel

Hi NW, i never even knew about Sepilok until i seen your message. I think if i have to talk to herself about that place i would love to see some Orangutans. I have a fear of small spaces so the caves would be out for me but i think if she would like to see it and insists i'd put on my brave smile and enter

The meridian looks a beautiful place to stay but she booked a cheaper place somewhere in the city center that fits within our budget

there is many rafflesia plants and similar or related plants in teh Philippines and all around south east Asia which are beautiful, hard to find but the locals know where to find them, i have seen a few over the past few years near the foothills of Mindanao. Really nice because they are huge in size. Will definitely visit the Irish bar while there and drink some Guinness I haven't had a pint of Guinness in three long years and the withdrawals are intense .

[NottinghamWhite]

We also went to Libaran Island which is a tiny island very near to the Phillipines to see the turtles hatching & believe or not it's the only place in the world where we were robbed. Walked up to the shop to get a couple of cans of Coke as it was our intention to sit on the balcony & finish off the Bercardi we had. Gone a maximum of 10 minutes but unbeknown to us someone had gone into our room & taken a small purse which had $300 in it, they'd left our cameras, passports & other valuables. Still seeing the turtles emerge from the sand was a very moment indeed.

[NottinghamWhite]

Bumped into an old buddy over the weekend & he looked to be struggling with his knees, he said that he couldn't work as he is awaiting knee replacements. He told me that just coming up to 12 months ago he was made redundant & he went to sign on only to be told he could sign on but he would get no money as he had too much savings. Now this guy would walk a mile to get 10p off an item & has been saving for his retirement for ages. Despite his pleadings that his savings were to help him once he retired as he has no work or private pension he was told to come back when his savings were gone. I left him near to tears & really felt sorry for him.

[johnh]

Bumped into an old buddy over the weekend & he looked to be struggling with his knees, he said that he couldn't work as he is awaiting knee replacements. He told me that just coming up to 12 months ago he was made redundant & he went to sign on only to be told he could sign on but he would get no money as he had too much savings. Now this guy would walk a mile to get 10p off an item & has been saving for his retirement for ages. Despite his pleadings that his savings were to help him once he retired as he has no work or private pension he was told to come back when his savings were gone. I left him near to tears & really felt sorry for him.

That is really sad. He should have put his savings into a pension plan and then it wouldn't have applied. Maybe that's still an option?

[mapperleywhite]

Bumped into an old buddy over the weekend & he looked to be struggling with his knees, he said that he couldn't work as he is awaiting knee replacements. He told me that just coming up to 12 months ago he was made redundant & he went to sign on only to be told he could sign on but he would get no money as he had too much savings. Now this guy would walk a mile to get 10p off an item & has been saving for his retirement for ages. Despite his pleadings that his savings were to help him once he retired as he has no work or private pension he was told to come back when his savings were gone. I left him near to tears & really felt sorry for him.

That is really sad. He should have put his savings into a pension plan and then it wouldn't have applied. Maybe that's still an option?

Possibly I'm not up to date, but when I was trying to get some help off DWP the savings limit was £8000, and if you're in a couple £16,000. I've also (unsuccessfully) applied for PIP recently which has replaced disability allowance; it's not dependent on NI contributions.

NW - sorry to hear about the plight of your buddy.

[90 miles a hour]

https://youtu.be/X1hKX5ZC_y0
Boro fan going mad

[NottinghamWhite]

Pain clinic for me at 10:30 to have a steroid injection in my back. At least I now I'm in for a few pain free weeks ahead.

[Deleted User 3289]

Bumped into an old buddy over the weekend & he looked to be struggling with his knees, he said that he couldn't work as he is awaiting knee replacements. He told me that just coming up to 12 months ago he was made redundant & he went to sign on only to be told he could sign on but he would get no money as he had too much savings. Now this guy would walk a mile to get 10p off an item & has been saving for his retirement for ages. Despite his pleadings that his savings were to help him once he retired as he has no work or private pension he was told to come back when his savings were gone. I left him near to tears & really felt sorry for him.

It sounds like "I Daniel Blake all over again" but this time he's got too much money. A mate of mine has a bird in Germany and she has been made redundant but because she has paid into the system receive a years full salary to aid her back into work.

If I was your mate (he's probably not as corrupt as me) I would draw enough money out to take me below the threshold, pop into afew Bookies, tell the Dwp your a gambler and you had delusions that you could win some money to make up for the money the state won't provide. Instead give the money to a trusted family member then claim the money from the state. After all he's earned it by contributing. I no its a pittance, but its better than nowt.

[Deleted User 1022]

We also went to Libaran Island which is a tiny island very near to the Phillipines to see the turtles hatching & believe or not it's the only place in the world where we were robbed. Walked up to the shop to get a couple of cans of Coke as it was our intention to sit on the balcony & finish off the Bercardi we had. Gone a maximum of 10 minutes but unbeknown to us someone had gone into our room & taken a small purse which had $300 in it, they'd left our cameras, passports & other valuables. Still seeing the turtles emerge from the sand was a very moment indeed.

I really hear you on that. Most people look at me here like i am a walking ATM (little do they realize that i have to work hard here to have a comfortable sort of life) There was only one time that someone tried to rob me while walking around the local market place in Cebu. He was a very brave young man but they work in groups of three or four especially if your wearing a back pack which i was. he had two guys flanking and slowing my wife down while i was walking ahead through the crowd another guy was in front of me slowing me down by stopping suddenly and every-time i would stop behind him i felt someone else brush up against my back pack. First few times i thought nothing of it because it was very crowded but then i realized instinctively that something wasn't right and i turned around only to see the guy was trying to cut the small pocket open with a razor blade, he had managed to cut it slightly and there was one 50 peso note hanging out and he made a grab for it but i caught his hand and then he ran. I looked to see where my wife was and she was being blocked by the two other idiots and i snapped. I went for the guy with the blade and he must have known i would have ripped him apart bade or no blade and he ran. then all of a sudden the rest ran. My wife could see what was happening all the time but couldn't get close to me to tell me. They gained nothing and the amazing thing is the police were there in the market place and when my wife said it to them they said it happens all the time by the same guys but when they get arrested they can't press charges because they are under age and its always tourists they hit who are on short stay vacations and by the time it it would go to court the tourists have gone home already and the thieves are not punished. Corruption in the Philippine police force is rampant and you actually have to pay them to do anything. Beautiful country it is but very immature ways of dealing with things.