Ray Haffenden first visited the Philippines in 1972, from his father's local office in Hong Kong - Haffenden f.e. Ltd., (Scotch whisky brokers, blenders and bottlers in London and Glasgow) which was run by Chuck McDougal and Larry Storjohan. Chuck later became famous for his archeological activities at Intramuros, and excelent book the Marcos Files.
He was a frequent visitor from then until 1990 when he opened a factory near Clark, which was promptly closed by Mt Pinatubo. Ray had always felt the market lacked an unbiased tourist publication, and started work putting his experiences on paper, this is when he met -
Nancy Orfinada graduated with a Bsc in Electrical Engineering, and worked for the U.S. Airforce 3rd C.E. Squadron, until becoming manager for the "Little Peso Saver" free circulation paper for the US military in the Philippines. After Pinatubo worked her magic in 1991, and the Peso Saver ceased publishing, she met up with Ray and started publishing the Philippine Grapevine in 1992, with the help of two Aussies, Rod & Doris, who later colaborated with the owner of the Peso Saver to bring out a rival publication "Walkabout", after his attempt to revive Peso Saver failed.
They later married, and had a daughter. The magazine evolved into Here Philippines, and was published and distributed monthly until 2005 after Ray and Nancy relocated to the U.K.
They also pioneered the map publishing market in the Philippines, (with the help of Mike Dunn who later co-founded UTP / E-Z Maps with Charlie Kemplin).
The Grapevine continued to spawn immitations - the sincerest form of flattery - and look-alikes (even the venerable What's On in Manila!), but Grapevine/Here outlived them all.
Still regular visitors to the Phililppines, this web site is a thank you to all our friends who still live and work there.