Communication with your (long distance) partner

[AbbynSheryl 0]

when she wakes up at about 8 am in phil time we start talking till i sleep at about 3 am and that is 7 days a week 365days a year since we met . never ever ever a break for one day.lol

abby n sheryl

[Matt & Jovy 0]

WoW! That`s pretty amazing. Just curious...both of you aren`t working or maybe your work schedule is flexible?

when she wakes up at about 8 am in phil time we start talking till i sleep at about 3 am and that is 7 days a week 365days a year since we met . never ever ever a break for one day.lol

abby n sheryl

[ddartt1 2]

Iam not sure if there is already a topic about this..but anyway, I just want to share mine.

A long distance relationship is really hard and a constant communication with my fiance really helps me to survive for 6 years.

1. We talk every weekend/holidays on chat (I always make sure I dont have a schedule in the afternoon).

2. I call him everyday to wake him up. We chat on phone while he`s driving to work.

3. He calls me everyday after he leaves work and while driving on his way home.

4. We send each other text messages in the evening before he goes to bed or when I/he is out of the house (party, malls, school, etc.)

5. For 4 years we sent each other emails tons. We stop now because we prefer communications on phone.

6. I even communicate with him even while he`s sleeping. He just leaves his webcam open so I can watch/hear (love to hear his snores, makes me fall asleep) him while he`s sleeping and he does the same thing while I`m sleeping.

He`s always telling me that he talks to me more than he does with his family. Haha. I believe him. I know it is so expensive to make all the calls but hearing each other`s voice helps us to feel that there`s not much distance between us. It shouldn`t be talking about different/new topics because we usually run out of those, but we`re always reminding how much we love/miss and care for each other. What really matters is the happiness that we feel every time we hear/see (webcam) each other for as often as we can.

Well, hope to hear from you guys.

We did all the above except No.6 and we sent each other lots of pics. We wish you a happy life together!

[Matt & Jovy 0]

Thank you!

We did all the above except No.6 and we sent each other lots of pics. We wish you a happy life together!

[Matt & Jovy 0]

It`s ok...thanks for replying. Curious about flowers ...have you ever thought of sending him flowers on special occasions? I once thought of sending him flowers but he didn`t like the idea. He thinks flowers are for ladies only...but in my opinion guys should receive flowers from their partners too once in a while

* We chat everyday using yahoo (sometimes we webcam too) and MSN (when I am at work).

* He send me flowers, chocolates and teddy bear on special occasions.

* I send him mail packages on special occasions.

I think i am a bit late in replying in this thread. I read this thread 2 or 3 days ago but I didn't had time to reply

Edited July 2, 2009 by Matt & Jovy

[jeeleebee 0]

Wow! Nice to meet you here ...what course? BS Chemical Engg ako...but still finishing my MS degree...I'll be 30 next year too...siguro batch mate tayo..hehe 1997 ako...

I don't think it was really wasted. Over that time we really were able to get to know each other very well. He was finishing law school and I was (still am) finishing my masters. He also works full time and so did I, so getting travel time was hard for both of us especially since his law school would not let him miss too many classes. As soon as that was done though he came to see me and has been here many times since, so it doesn't bother me. That time really allowed us both to get our school out of the way so we could enjoy a great future together.

Oh.. and he isn't married (never been) and our ages are just ten month apart, so no worries there either.

It took us 6 years too, just didnt wanna rush into it...we'll both be 30 next year and sometimes I wish we got married sooner. 3rd wedding anniv on the 4th!

Btw, im from UPDil too

Nice to meet you too. Batch 96 ako...started out Comp Sci, ended in Educ, majored in Math (and Im not teaching )

Anyhow, goodluck with your MS and your immigration journey!

I only have one last hoop to jump and Im done wheee

[jeeleebee 0]

It`s ok...thanks for replying. Curious about flowers ...have you ever thought of sending him flowers on special occasions? I once thought of sending him flowers but he didn`t like the idea. He thinks flowers are for ladies only...but in my opinion guys should receive flowers from their partners too once in a while

* We chat everyday using yahoo (sometimes we webcam too) and MSN (when I am at work).

* He send me flowers, chocolates and teddy bear on special occasions.

* I send him mail packages on special occasions.

I think i am a bit late in replying in this thread. I read this thread 2 or 3 days ago but I didn't had time to reply

My guy didnt think much of the flowers idea either...you could go with something he really likes, maybe a dvd or a game or whatever he does for fun...or maybe even a toy he had when he was a kid that he really loved. And when you get here you can bake/cook his faves (food trumps flowers IMHO )

[tnguy21809 0]

Hi All!!

I decided to share and hope that it helps everyone keep in touch cheaper and that yahoo doesn't catch on and change things let me try and explain.

This is for USC with a cell phone and anyone else using a PC. The USC must be the one to have a credit card on a US account. The USC either has to log into the foreign partners yahoo account (or) give his/her card info to to the other.

Sign into (or create a new) yahoo account, Sign up for the "phone in" account. The cost is $2.49 a month if you pay for a years service ($30.00 one time charge, good for a year) Pick a phone number from somewhere close to you or from any area code you like. Most USC phone plans have unlimited night and weekends. When the foreign partner is online and logged into their yahoo account, and their partner (or anyone who calls that number) it will ring to the PC and work like normal. Calling from the US on nighttime minutes is daytime for the Philippines.

If the USC has unlimited text, text messages sent from Yahoo to their cell phone is free and messages sent back are also free. So the foreign partner wakes up, logs into ym, sends a text and says "good evening honey, I'm awake now." then they call the phone in number, it rings to the PC and wahh laahhh!!! Talking for really cheap.

If the PC is off or they are not logged in, it goes to voicemail and will be sent in mp3 format to their email.

Also, The same ym account can sign up for the "phone out" account. The USC can put $10 or $25 on the account and the foreign partner can make calls to the US for 1 cent per minute. Calls made from yahoo via phone out are dialed beginning with a (1) then the area code (XXX) then the number. Ex: 1xxxxxxxxxx Do not try to dial any other way or it may charge more than 1 cent. Every call that is made will show how much it will cost per minute and what the balance is when placing a call. (good way for outside US to call NVC and USCIS cheap.

When signing up for the phone out, it says this is for US only. But if it is the USC using their cc then its not a problem. I hope this helps some of you to be able to stay in touch and save some of that money to spend on your 130's, 129's AOS's and getting your partner here!!!!! If you have any questions on using the services send a PM to tngirl or me and we will be glad to tell you what we know from experience using it since October last year. I drive truck and like to drive at night, so we have logged hundreds of hours talking I know for a fact that AT&T has a built in disconnect after 3 hours. (I have got 3 hours and 4 minutes before it disconnected)

BTW, Whenever I have signal, the PC is on, the cam is open and she can pop in at anytime. We eat, shower, sleep, walk, talk, drive, go to stores, anything and everything we can do together we do. It is just as if she is here with me. People look at me strange in the stores and restaurants when I come in with my PC but I tell them all the same thing. "Just because distance separates us doesn't mean we cant spend every second possible together. If me having my wife via Internet bothers you then don't look my way!!!"

[Kevin- 13]

For a few months before I went there, I was calling her every day for a long time. Up to six hours on some days. During that time I spent probably almost $3000 on phone bills. I still don't know how I managed to pay for it all. When I went over, I took a laptop so she would be able to get on the internet at home.

She can't get a land line phone, can't get DSL, can't get flat-rate wireless internet like the SmartBro 999 plan. She can only get a weak 3G wireless internet signal at her house, which sometimes is frustratingly unreliabe. She gets disconnected every few minutes on some days. It's prepaid only, p10 per 30 minutes. But still that is sometimes good enough for voice chat and usually works okay for text chat. That can add up fast, but it's far cheaper than $0.26 per minute over the phone. The laptop died a couple weeks ago (it was long out of warranty), and since I know now how expensive it is to talk on the phone I'm having her buy another laptop. She actually just got it set up, stayed awake really late there heheh. Glad that's ready now, I know my phonebill has spiked a bit since the first laptop failed, heheh.

If anyone knows of other ways we can communicate reliably for less money, given the restrictions, the information would be much appreciated She can only get Smart, TM, and Globe signals at her house. I have a globe sim card here that supposedly would let us text at 1 peso each, but my cell phone seems to not allow that sim card.

[o0pink0o 3]

It`s ok...thanks for replying. Curious about flowers ...have you ever thought of sending him flowers on special occasions? I once thought of sending him flowers but he didn`t like the idea. He thinks flowers are for ladies only...but in my opinion guys should receive flowers from their partners too once in a while

* We chat everyday using yahoo (sometimes we webcam too) and MSN (when I am at work).

* He send me flowers, chocolates and teddy bear on special occasions.

* I send him mail packages on special occasions.

I think i am a bit late in replying in this thread. I read this thread 2 or 3 days ago but I didn't had time to reply

You know what? I had that idea too but it's just that I can't find a website which I can send him flowers lol! Most of the websites I found is to send gifts to PH from US and NOT PH to US lol! So i end up sending him Eng-Tag Dictionary, Tagalog tutorial DVD, DVD movies, shirts etc. But you know what? I surprised him with flowers with matching chocolate and card pa on his birthday when I got here lol! and then he was surprised too bec there was door confetti when he opened our door hehe tapos I filled our bed with balloons while the birthday music is playing He was happy and told me that that is the first time he got surprised birthday party. About the flowers? He smiled and said "this is the first time I got flowers from a girl" lol!

[Matt & Jovy 0]

I looked at online flowers shops in the US when thought of sending him one. Yes it is true though that not tons are really into flowers for guys. But I think I'll send him flowers at home because before I told him I'll send it to his office...maybe thats the reason why he didn't like the idea...hehe It is nice how you made your hubby happy on his birthday

It`s ok...thanks for replying. Curious about flowers ...have you ever thought of sending him flowers on special occasions? I once thought of sending him flowers but he didn`t like the idea. He thinks flowers are for ladies only...but in my opinion guys should receive flowers from their partners too once in a while

* We chat everyday using yahoo (sometimes we webcam too) and MSN (when I am at work).

* He send me flowers, chocolates and teddy bear on special occasions.

* I send him mail packages on special occasions.

I think i am a bit late in replying in this thread. I read this thread 2 or 3 days ago but I didn't had time to reply

You know what? I had that idea too but it's just that I can't find a website which I can send him flowers lol! Most of the websites I found is to send gifts to PH from US and NOT PH to US lol! So i end up sending him Eng-Tag Dictionary, Tagalog tutorial DVD, DVD movies, shirts etc. But you know what? I surprised him with flowers with matching chocolate and card pa on his birthday when I got here lol! and then he was surprised too bec there was door confetti when he opened our door hehe tapos I filled our bed with balloons while the birthday music is playing He was happy and told me that that is the first time he got surprised birthday party. About the flowers? He smiled and said "this is the first time I got flowers from a girl" lol!

Ah okie. Still it is nice to meet you here and goodluck din sa'yo!

Wow! Nice to meet you here ...what course? BS Chemical Engg ako...but still finishing my MS degree...I'll be 30 next year too...siguro batch mate tayo..hehe 1997 ako...

I don't think it was really wasted. Over that time we really were able to get to know each other very well. He was finishing law school and I was (still am) finishing my masters. He also works full time and so did I, so getting travel time was hard for both of us especially since his law school would not let him miss too many classes. As soon as that was done though he came to see me and has been here many times since, so it doesn't bother me. That time really allowed us both to get our school out of the way so we could enjoy a great future together.

Oh.. and he isn't married (never been) and our ages are just ten month apart, so no worries there either.

It took us 6 years too, just didnt wanna rush into it...we'll both be 30 next year and sometimes I wish we got married sooner. 3rd wedding anniv on the 4th!

Btw, im from UPDil too

Nice to meet you too. Batch 96 ako...started out Comp Sci, ended in Educ, majored in Math (and Im not teaching )

Anyhow, goodluck with your MS and your immigration journey!

I only have one last hoop to jump and Im done wheee

[Matt & Jovy 0]

Nice one!

People look at me strange in the stores and restaurants when I come in with my PC but I tell them all the same thing. "Just because distance separates us doesn't mean we cant spend every second possible together. If me having my wife via Internet bothers you then don't look my way!!!"

[NotworkSte 19]

But internet here in this part of Pampanga is poor. We usually have bad connection everytime we talk on messenger. My husband gets upsets. I hope he would bring vonage this August.

Is vonage dependent on the internet connection? Im worried that even if we have vonage, we still could not talk properly.

Is Skype okay even if the internet connection is poor?

I cannot comment directly on the Philippines, but I have used vonage, and I know at least one colleague from the Corp I work for has used Vonage from the Philippines to talk to his wife when he was there on business and it was fine.

My own personal experience, is that my wife and I were getting a tad frustrated with Skype voice, the quality was iffy, and that was on good dsl lines in the UK and US. So we could not always rely on it, when it was bad we switched to regular phone and did rack up some big bills. When I was last over we signed up for Vonage (did not buy it at a store, C called them and beat them up on prices so we got a good deal (she can be quite beligerent when she wants to be!) ). I have been very impressed with the quality. I brought the Vonage box back to the UK (so I don't have a UK Vonage account, it is US).

Apart from the great quality (it has never been a problem), as I have a Fl 813 number I get free calls all over the US so I can call her wherever she is, on her home or cell phone free of charge (well FoC beyiond the $20/mo sub. And here's the weird thing, on my plan I get free calls to the UK, so in a bizarre way it is cheaper to call the dhillons for a pizza through vonage than it is to use my home phone at times. Weird.

I have no weay of knowing if the quality would be as good for you over there, just that my own experience has been good, and anecdotal evidence from a colleague who was the one who recommended Vonage to me was that in Philippines it was good.

Maybe someone else here has used it from there could concur?

[Matt & Jovy 0]

I am using Skype and have a SMART Bro for my internet. From my experience, Skype doesn`t work well with poor internet connection. Hope you`ll find Vonage as a better alternative then.

But internet here in this part of Pampanga is poor. We usually have bad connection everytime we talk on messenger. My husband gets upsets. I hope he would bring vonage this August.

Is vonage dependent on the internet connection? Im worried that even if we have vonage, we still could not talk properly.

Is Skype okay even if the internet connection is poor?

I cannot comment directly on the Philippines, but I have used vonage, and I know at least one colleague from the Corp I work for has used Vonage from the Philippines to talk to his wife when he was there on business and it was fine.

My own personal experience, is that my wife and I were getting a tad frustrated with Skype voice, the quality was iffy, and that was on good dsl lines in the UK and US. So we could not always rely on it, when it was bad we switched to regular phone and did rack up some big bills. When I was last over we signed up for Vonage (did not buy it at a store, C called them and beat them up on prices so we got a good deal (she can be quite beligerent when she wants to be!) ). I have been very impressed with the quality. I brought the Vonage box back to the UK (so I don't have a UK Vonage account, it is US).

Apart from the great quality (it has never been a problem), as I have a Fl 813 number I get free calls all over the US so I can call her wherever she is, on her home or cell phone free of charge (well FoC beyiond the $20/mo sub. And here's the weird thing, on my plan I get free calls to the UK, so in a bizarre way it is cheaper to call the dhillons for a pizza through vonage than it is to use my home phone at times. Weird.

I have no weay of knowing if the quality would be as good for you over there, just that my own experience has been good, and anecdotal evidence from a colleague who was the one who recommended Vonage to me was that in Philippines it was good.

Maybe someone else here has used it from there could concur?