Hi guys , just a question for anyone who lives out there permanently , or spends a lot of time there. Can I ask how long it took you to adjust to life there . I love my vacations there , but really don't think that I could live there permanently . My biggest problems would be , The healthcare there , now I'm old , The awful Internet , yes I know this is curable with broadband , but not many people have this at home . The food is quite expensive , unless you eat what the locals eat , which is mainly rice . I'm not really comfortable with Filipinos attitudes to animals , I'm sure this won't bother everyone . The roosters crowing and dogs barking , maybe I could get used to . Not looking for a heated debate , but would appreciate some feed back from anyone who lives there , is thinking about living there , or has family ( maybe wife /gf ) living there . Thanks .
Internet sucks, Food is inexpensive unless you eat imported food, Roosters and dogs barking I have earplugs, diesel, and petrol cheap, Healthcare I have Phil-health, electric expensive.
I go a few times per year for anything between 2 weeks and 3 months, the internet is slow in our house but it is fine for browsing and whatever else I need to get done, we tend to buy fresh food from wet markets and it's not too expensive, I also enjoy the street food every now and again so it's not a big problem money wise. I don't enjoy how they treat the animals, anything that's not a personal pet they seem to have little regard for but that's not every Filipina, some are good to animals that I've seen. In England I live next to a railway so the crowing and barking doesn't bother me. I'm moving there in a few months if all goes well so the healthcare is something I'll be looking in to in more detail
Been visiting for past 5 years or so. Decided to make Philippines our home about 3 years ago. Bought a lot, in wifes name of course, in a great gated community which incorporates a fine golf course, in Davao. Built our house over the past 18 months and moved here permanently just last month. I love it here, the air is fresh, weather great, nice and peaceful, no roosters or noisy karaoke etc. Internet is fine, 20Mbps via fibre from PLDT. Prices in general are definitely increasing, but so far a lot less than what we used to pay in our last home in Dubai. Electricity/water less for us too. The only thing that is more expensive is petrol and diesel for the wife's car and my pickup. Healthcare, I have been paying for private health insurance for the past 28 years and will continue to do so, although I will look for a cheaper policy. I have heard stories about bad treatment of animals, but honestly I haven't witnessed anything myself. Most of our neighbours have dogs and they seem to treat them pretty well.
Well Im off there for good on March 23rd, bought some land and have built a house in the village, we have our own water supply and we are just doing the final things like décor. know what you mean about animal treatment but its not all Filipinos. Food from our local market is cheap and our two papaya plantations will provide a reasonable income. Cant wait to get away from this horrible weather.
I don't live there but my kids do, I've spent a fair bit of time there but nothing like fulltime. Healthcare, I just expect to die so not too bothered about paying out loads. We have PLDT wired broadband it is acceptable but not really good enough for me to work there, if I could have gotten Sky Cable (different Sky) it would have been far better if I ever get to retire I will get rid of PLDT and install Sky. Food's not particularly expensive although supermarket prices in the capital have been creeping up year by year, I eat what the family eat, going out for meals is still pretty cheap and you can get great cheap food in most Chinese restaurants, Korean is not bad either. There are people that keep pets, but in general animals are something to be worked or eaten. Our neighbours keep dogs and roosters, it used to drive Ana nuts but does not bother me all that much. We started out living on the 20th floor of a condo tower block and that is actually rather nice, the air is slightly cooler up at that height, we had a swimming pool on the roof and gym and lots of amenities on the ground floor, the supermarket was a three minute walk from the front door that was in full shopping mall Harrison Plaza, we were a few minutes from Baywalk on Roxas had a view out over the bay, could walk to Star City or the CCP, Malate and a good night out with some live music was a short 5 minute taxi ride away. I liked it there.
Well thanks to all the guys who have replied so far . Some really interesting insights into people lives and thoughts . I always enjoy learning more about life there . I hope maybe I can spend more time there in the future , maybe six months there and six months in Uk . I really hate the cold dark winters . Hope to get some more replies .
I spent 12 years of my life as an industrial photographer and technician, most of it was spent in the darkroom processing prints, I would get to work in the dark and go home in the dark, that was in Scotland where winters are well.... dark, I am really not fond of the cold and dark either
Sorry guys , just a quick thought . I would be really interested to know just broadly the island or area that you frequent/ live . It would give a bit more insight re prices etc there for comparison . Most of my time has been spent in south Cebu , and the Internet is almost non existent . Even my buying a portable wifi , rarely helped . On two occasions , I spent half a day in McDonalds in the next town , as it was the only place I could use Internet . Trying to book flights and hotels was a nightmare , until I got back to the city .
We live in the capital, originally right in the middle near Manila bay, we live in one of the Metro Manila cities now to the south but it is still effectively Manila. The capital is getting expensive these days, at least compared to what it used to be.
The real answer to this is it depends... how much money you've got (or are prepared to spend) ... @DavidAlma is obviously insulated from many of the concerns you have... We on the other hand live in a dump (largely because the barangay officials here pocket the money) - muddy patch for a Basketball court! Fortunately we have enough land to have our own area for our children to play in but in addition to the roosters and dogs you need to factor in cats poo'ing , pot pots tooting, people like us banging out the karaoke and the local's revving their mopeds at all hours! I'm really quite fond of animals, particularly dogs, some treat them well - I think many of them get kicked out because, as in the UK, people get one as a pet and then discover they are expensive to look after... Internet - depends where you are and again how much you want to spend - I pay Globe circa £15/month for 5mbs /100gb data [That's as good as it gets here] - Our's has been working pretty well for the past 2 years... when it goes down I just use the phone to get a connection but sometimes that goes down too! (Think we rely on a cable from Cebu) Food is expensive - When I'm looking at things the other way (going back to the UK) my biggest worry is the price of fish - Yellow Fin Tuna can cost from £2 to £4/kilo here - Online it's £25-£30/kg in tescos (and I bet it's rubbish)... I love fish - annoyingly the children like Chicken... I doubt you can get Blue Fin (Bariles) in the UK (Actually this https://www.finefoodspecialist.co.uk/seafood/ - lot do it) - £56/Kilo! It's normally £4 to £7/kg here. Healthcare - again that one is money but a word of warning: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/loca...opping-keeps-patient-waiting-ambulance-506868 You could pay out an awful lot for health insurance and find yourself in a similar situation to that above - especially if the Ambulance driver needs to give a family member a lift somewhere or take some rice to the mill etc.... Best thing you can do is suck it and see for a few years - don't buy anything just rent - I bought this place for my wife as it was going to be cheaper than renting and places to rent were very difficult to find here (in Leyte) after Yolanda - much easier now.
My wife and young son live in a house we've had built on land we bought a couple of years ago, a few miles north of Dagupan, in Pangasinan, North Luzon (close to the relatives... who are wonderful). One of our nieces lives with us, and helps out looking after her cousin, as well being company for the Mrs. At present I stay with them as often as I can afford an air ticket. I'm on my wife's Philhealth , but that hasn't been put to the test yet.
Personally,I think you need to travel as many islands as you can until you find a location that you actually like based on your personal requirements such as internet,hospitals,schools ect.. Find a rental there and plan to live there for at least one year.. See how it goes.
