Black Expats

[Mike from BDA]

Greetings all, i am interested to hear about persoanal experiences of any Black or Brown skinned expats currently in the Philippines. During my time there last year i did not see any...perhaps because of the areas i was in. Also saw lots, and lots, and lots :mocking: of skin whitening products everywhere...which makes me question the attitude of locals to darker-skined people. I personally did no feel bothered or worried but, nethertheless, would like the hear the experiences of others if you care to share.

Thanks for any comments...

with Peace and One Love

:cheersty:

[Jake]

Greetings all, i am interested to hear about persoanal experiences of any Black or Brown skinned expats currently in the Philippines. During my time there last year i did not see any...perhaps because of the areas i was in. Also saw lots, and lots, and lots :mocking: of skin whitening products everywhere...which makes me question the attitude of locals to darker-skined people. I personally did no feel bothered or worried but, nethertheless, would like the hear the experiences of others if you care to share.

Thanks for any comments...

with Peace and One Love

:cheersty:

Hello Mike,

Your concern about being the darker skin color is valid. However, I personally do not feel that

you will be openly persecuted. Please read this link from Wayne (Cayman Islands):

http://www.philippin...nos/#entry72341

Regarding the Filipinos spending billions of pesos on skin whitening......I believe it is a matter of

colonial mentality over the last century and all the advertisements fed down the throats of the

local people. It is also perceived that being dark skin denotes lower class because it means

manual labor working out in the sun. In my opinion, that'a bunch of bull chit.....he, he.

Look at me, I'm dark skin Filipino and proud of it. I'll even bend over and show them my genuine

brown eye.....he, he.

Welcome aboard sir -- Jake

[Jack Peterson]

:SugarwareZ-034: BLAST! it took me 10 mins to find that link and you beat me to it. :AddEmoticons04230:

[Mike from BDA]

Thanks for that...very useful!

Cheers

[OnMyWay]

If you don't mind me asking, what is the main motivation for moving from the beautiful Caribbean to the Philippines? Cost of living? The beautiful women in the Philippines? I have heard it is very expensive in places like Cayman. Not so sure about BDA but probably the same.

There are several threads on the whitening cremes and although there are some cultural reasons behind the popularity, I personally believe a lot of people are brain-washed by all of the marketing done by huge multi-national companies. The same companies spend millions in the west to get light skinned people to buy skin tanning cremes. They jump on any cultural reasons and exaggerate them in subtle ways, all in the interest of the almighty dollar! :no:

[oldutot]

Welcome Mike

[GregZ]

I've been here in Cebu City, capital area for 3+ months now. I do a lot of walking, for exercise and I am too cheap to get a taxi. I have only seen 1 black person... but then again I've only seen 2 white guys. I didn't count me either way because you can see I am bronze in my profile pic. I mix lightening and tanning cremes together to stay that way. :cheersty:

Before I turned bronze I was white... and without a tan I really stick out; maybe because I am six feet tall too? It doesn't seem to make a bit of difference though. When I look around here I see a mixture of other asians (japanese, chinese, etc) which I like to think tends to cause less sensitivity to skin color and heritage, more attention to the person. Please keep in mind that I am a perpetual optimist and your results may vary if you are a pessimist. :mocking:

[Mike from BDA]

@ OnMyWay,

the reason why i am planning to leave Bermuda is quality of life. my country has really become too expesive to live yet alone retire in any type of comfort. As i turned 45 recently i asked myself if i wanted to still be in this same mad game for another 20 years and then try to survive on a pension when i retire. I have a mortgage payment that won't mature until my 64th birthday...so rather than work like a dog just to pay for it and then hope to survive on a retirement pension in the face of rising food and healthcare costs, i decided that i have had enough. The lower cost of living and quality of life i can have in the Phillppines are large factors for me....and of course the beautiful Filapinas!!!...well one in particular :dance: i have being with my Filapina now for 18 months! On my visit there last December i had an epithany while sitting under a mango tree and enjoying an iced tea during a beautifully sunny day. Since that day my thoughts and energies have been focused on relocating there. if all goes well i will make my move by end of November! Cheers.

[OldUgly&Cranky]

welcome to the forum mike !!! and im sure you will find a heap of very useful info on here !! its a great bunch of people on here !!! and what jake said is true but who cares what others think !! i get dirty looks from locals sometimes and also i caught a vendor on a bus checking out my wife's bum and he looks at me and smiles and i said yup shes with me !! the main thing is if the both of you are happy !! personally i have told the wife dont ever use that whiting cream i love her dark skin same with my step-daughter i said the same thing they know i accept them as they are beautiful and brown :) again welcome to the forum Mike !!

O-U-C :thumbsup:

[wayneseymour]

Hi Mike, hey I feel ya man, in the Cayman Islands you virtually live from pay check to pay check and that's cutting it to the bone. I was making 6k a month with HSBC and had to look for side work to make it til the end of the month... I have to GET OUTAND NOW!!!!!!!!!