After 21 years, the lovely Kiwinoy couple swears they never had an argument since they met. (Photo by PINGGOT ZULUETA)

Some say that when you marry a Filipina, you marry her entire family. But for Bob Carpenter, a retired businessman from New Zealand, marrying Edith Vital not only roped in her parents and eight siblings – he embraced the entire Filipino community all around the globe. 

Bob has always loved staying in Manila and fondly claims that he never liked staying anywhere else. But the moment he laid eyes on Edith in a quaint restaurant in Makati Avenue back in 1988, he just knew that the Philippines is destined to become his second country.

“I met her through a common friend during one of my holidays in Manila. I instantly liked her and I thought she was great but she had one problem, she didn’t talk at all. So I asked her, ‘Do you have a tongue?’”  And she still didn’t answer. That was really interesting,” Bob said smiling.

“Can you blame me for being shy? Although he’s a lovely guy, I had to be careful not to let my guard down easily,” Edith laughingly replied.

For some reason, Bob found Edith’s shyness very endearing and mysterious. He even asked his friends how he could get hold of her to ask her out to dinner the following night. That’s how it all started. They went out every day that Edith wasn’t working, for the two weeks Bob spent in the Philippines.

When Bob flew back to Auckland, New Zealand, Edith had to make the biggest decision of her life. Bob had asked her to join him. Three months later, she was standing at the Auckland Airport waiting for the man she would spend the rest of her life with.     

“Making the decision to leave my job and family wasn’t entirely difficult because I really wanted to be with him. The jitters came when I arrived. That’s when I realized I was on my own. I didn’t know what to expect from him but I knew he loved me and I loved him so I just left it to fate,” Edith shared. 

Maybe fate was smiling at Bob and Edith that day because the moment Bob picked her up at the airport, he did something that made all the jitters and uncertainties go away.

“I picked her up with my old van and the moment she entered the vehicle, I gave her all the coins in my pocket, my wallet, all my keys and told her that everything I have, although it’s really nothing much, are hers now. I haven’t signed a single check ever since,” Bob said.

But their married life wasn’t always wedded bliss. There were times when Edith would feel homesick and missed her family. Upon seeing this, Bob thought that since he couldn’t always bring Edith to the Philippines, he might as well get all her loved ones to New Zealand so they could all live together.

“Her family is from Pampanga and that was the time Mt. Pinatubo erupted so I knew they needed help. I did all that I could to get them to New Zealand. That’s when we got really close. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Filipinos. I proudly call myself Kiwinoy now (Kiwi is the term internationally used to refer to people from New Zealand),” Bob said smiling.

To this day, Bob and Edith Carpenter haven’t left each other’s side and swore they never had a single argument. They now own one of the most successful travel agencies in New Zealand, Planet Earth Travel, have two lovely children -- Peter, 17 and Jacky, 14 -- and are living a prosperous life they thought they could only dream of.

As their way of giving back, Bob and Edith thought of developing MooPlace.com, a website where Filipinos from all around the world could communicate and at the same time provide extra income for Filipino IT professionals.

“After my retirement, I literally ran out of things to do. I can’t play golf and I hate fishing, that’s when Edith suggested that I build a social networking site for Filipinos. I thought the idea was brilliant so I tapped Filipino IT professionals living in New Zealand to develop the site. It’s been up since December of last year and we now have 16,000 members from all around the globe,” Bob related.

Through MooPlace, members can contact each other through chat, video streaming, and email. They can also share links of favorite online articles and participate in blogs. Another interesting feature is the site’s photo competition where members can win a cash prize of P42,000. The contest began [on] March 1st and will run for two months.

“It’s like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Myspace all rolled into one. We can also assure the parents that the site is developed with built-in security features and their kids are absolutely safe to join,” Edith said.

Bob and Edith find it fascinating and a little funny that at their age of 57 and 48, respectively, they are spending more time chatting and playing games in MooPlace just like their kids.

“It’s amazing what internet can do to you; just two years ago, I barely know how to use the computer and now I get talk to Edith through chat and video streaming,” Bob said with a laugh.

To learn more about the Filipino social networking site, visit: www.mooplace.com.

On the sweetest thing they ever did for each other

He said: I think her coming up to the hospital and taking care of me when I had a heart attack was the sweetest thing she ever did for me. She used to scratch my back and put me to sleep. When I had my heart bypass operation, I couldn’t wait for her to come because I needed her to put me to sleep.

She said: The sweetest thing for me is that he always asks if my family was okay back home during my first months in New Zealand. Bringing my entire family to New Zealand is a close second.

On the secret for a long and happy marriage

He said: Laughing together. It’s probably the best thing. Have fun and always share a good laugh.

She said: We are good for each other. I take care of him and he takes care of me. It’s always give and take. 

On dining

He said: She won’t let me cook for her. The day she arrived, I cooked for her my specialty which is a T-bone steak. It came out of the freezer, into the frying pan. I let it sit there until it runs out of water, and then served it on a plate. And then she said she’ll never let me cook again. (Laughs)

She said: I’m Kapampangan so he’s really lucky. He loves my adobo. But he’s really into sweet delicacies like cassava cake, leche flan, and bibingka.

On parenting

He said: Those kids mean the world to us. We give them everything, no selfishness. We were lucky we had more money when our children arrived.

She said: We’re both very loving and kind parents. We take them to the Philippines every year so they won’t forget their heritage.