From what I understand, currency strength is based on relative prices. Basically, it’s how much local goods cost relative to your income. The more you can buy with your currency, the stronger the currency. Here’s an example. In Manila, middle class starts around $8,000USD/yr. In the US, it’s around $30,000. A…

My two tips on this. If you need a wallet, use an over-sized “checkbook-style”. It seems like it would be easier to pick, but the weight and size of the wallet makes it harder to pick without you noticing. It could still potentially get snatched or picked if there are lots of people crowded around, and that’s where my…

There isn’t a news source outside of a direct reporting agency (Reuters, AP, etc) that doesn’t have some sort of bias. What matters is if they’re not heavily skewing information or outright lying about it. Very few are left like that, maybe a few Youtube channels. All of the major ‘liberal’ sources (WaPo, CNN, MSNBC,…

Filipino isn’t a language. The Philippines has a massive amount of languages for such a small area, but the one people are most familiar with is Tagalog. Mabuhay is correct, but it’s rarely used. Instead, they say “cheers”. You’ll get some impressed looks if you do say it though. Filipinos greatly appreciate when…

When I served in the Marines, we ran off-road regularly (usually 5 miles on pavement, then 5 miles off-road). However, we never did it in running shoes. We ran in boots as the ankle support allowed us to maintain pace without risk of injury. If you do run off-road, I’d recommend a good orienteering shoe/boot to reduce…

Great list. I always consider a santoku as a practical alternative to a chef’s knife. A decent one will do everything a chef’s knife can, and what it can’t a paring knife can usually cover. Another thing is that a Japanese paring knife is a great choice. I use one professionally for slicing produce along with a…

I’m a native Charlottean. I’d rather live in a place with economic mobility and job opportunities. Plus, NC is currently one of the most right-wing states in the nation, and the Republicans are quickly running it into the ground.

He wasn’t crucial for the vote, we know his stance on it, and he has a campaign going on. That isn’t a flub.

A flub is when Hillary tried to justify taking a $675,000 bri...I mean payment from Goldman Sachs for three speeches, or how she helped mend the injured and frightened Wall Street after 9/11, or how she…

As far as I can tell, this does not work for prepaid service, even though it does not tell you that. It just takes you to your account page with no change. Granted,the auto-pay promotion where you got 2GB instead of 1 didn’t work either, even though it’s advertised as a promotion for prepaid.

A trick for Chicago. Don’t tell them O’Hare or Midway airport, tell them a specific address at the airport. In fact, just use a specific address for most locations, because the Uber app doesn’t work properly in major cities. Example, it had me standing in front of the Intercontinental when I was across the street at…