Is The Philippines For Me

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frosty (chris)
Posted
Posted

Hmmm... threads like this puts some doubts about my future plans in the Philippines...  I have only experienced the Philippines as a tourist, 2 weeks at a time, and I love it so far, but still don't know if I could do without some of the western luxuries, specifically:

 

hot water - can't take cold showers...

toilet paper - still don't know how they get by with a bucket of water and scooper...

reliable electricity - I think I could cope with the occasional brown outs, but not sure...

 

Like most of you recommend, I guess I will have to live there for about a year... I hope I love it as much as you all...

You can get a small wall mounted electric water heater for the shower, a bit bigger than a shoe box, (around 2,000 Pesos) just connects to the existing water outlet, but you need an electrician to wire it up. We have one but to be honest only use it on rare occasions, cold water is ok by me.

You get conditioned here to carry some tissue/ toilet paper in your back pack, everywhere you go.

The electric where we live is on about par with my home city.

I have no problems here with anything, people are warm and friendly, we eat good, enjoy going out occasionally and I feel a lot more relaxed than when I first came here.

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Dave Hounddriver
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Even my sari sari store has 3 levels of toilet paper

 

You just don't know how lucky you are.  I remember a day when my buddy and I were out hiking in a rural barangay and he had diarrhea.  He ran out of pocket tissue and we asked every sari sari store within a kilometer if they had ANY paper product that would substitute.  No such luck.  And to make matter worse, it had been raining so he had to squat in the muck and use wet banana leaves.  I mean its not like there are any toilets of any kind in the rural barangays that are open to use by foreigners.

 

But you know what, I am glad to have experienced the real Philippines instead of finding all the sheltered areas that I am Bob seems to find.  But it does prove that those shelters of civilization are there if you search for them like Bob does. :whistling:

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i am bob
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Even my sari sari store has 3 levels of toilet paper

 

You just don't know how lucky you are.  I remember a day when my buddy and I were out hiking in a rural barangay and he had diarrhea.  He ran out of pocket tissue and we asked every sari sari store within a kilometer if they had ANY paper product that would substitute.  No such luck.  And to make matter worse, it had been raining so he had to squat in the muck and use wet banana leaves.  I mean its not like there are any toilets of any kind in the rural barangays that are open to use by foreigners.

 

But you know what, I am glad to have experienced the real Philippines instead of finding all the sheltered areas that I am Bob seems to find.  But it does prove that those shelters of civilization are there if you search for them like Bob does. :whistling:

Actually, Dave, I just get lucky a lot! After all, I do live in Central Park!!! Hehe!

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Thomas
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Multi vitamins with iron will also help with a cold.

Use extreme caution!!

 

Women lose blood each month so they need to replenish their body's iron.  Men, on the other hand,

A Filipina friend of mine had anemia when she were in Manila, but got well each time she went home to visit Samar. We found out the difference was in Manila she didn't eat any coconut, while in Samar they don't have much other than rice and coconut  :lol:

 

I eat some supplements myself sometimes, when it's much harder to get it through food, but it's better to get nutrisions natural.

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Kuya John
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Make it or bust, once you decide to make the move, you are 50% committed, the other 50% comes after you get over the holiday mood.

Most people will give it a taster first before burning bridges.

But you will never know till you try it.

The only time I fell ill in Philippines, was when I was going from hot climate to cold Air/con, one time way back, so now I prefer a fan to air/con.

Strangely enough it happened again in Canada when visiting, heatwave touching 36-39c going into a cold house air/con again.

Both times ended up with pneumonia! So if you want to stay healthy, ditch the aircon.

Edited by Kuya John
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Dave Hounddriver
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I think the location of where you plan on staying is also going to play a large role in how much or little adjusting you need to do, and how much you enjoy yourself.  The closer you are to a major city, the less adjustment it's going to take.     Although I have never been in the Philippines for longer than 6 month stretches a few times, the biggest adjustments for me came when I was living out in the province.

 

That is so true and yet I never gave it a passing thought before.  Its like people who think they have been to Canada because they have seen Toronto or Niagara Falls.  This puts budgets in a whole different light too.  Many threads comment on how much it costs to live in Philippines and we cannot reach agreement as it depends so much on where you plan on staying (in addition to lifestyle choices of course).

 

Good post.

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Richieboy67
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I like where I am now and have grown used to being without some of the creature comforts I had in the USA like a shower, hot water and a toilet that flushes. This is s million times better than the bamboo house I stayed I in for almost 3 months. It had electricity only and it went out most days of the week. It did not even have Windows or real walls.

I'm very happy here though I'm looking forward to going back to the USA for a few years until we can afford to buy or build a big house here with all of those comforts.

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Crocodile
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I think the location of where you plan on staying is also going to play a large role in how much or little adjusting you need to do, and how much you enjoy yourself.  The closer you are to a major city, the less adjustment it's going to take.  

 

Although I have never been in the Philippines for longer than 6 month stretches a few times, the biggest adjustments for me came when I was living out in the province.

 

For example, my wife an I have a nice condo in the IT Park in Cebu, where it is basically a nice Western apartment (in many ways much nicer) that has all the amenities (water heater was my "must have" when shopping).  We are close to the best eateries, malls, nightlife, social clubs, etc and I honestly feel like I'm living a souped up Western lifestyle with everything I could need within arms reach in a tropical paradise.  To be honest I can't wait until I can do it fulltime.  

 

Change that over to when we stay out in a Cebuano province (which in terms of infrastructure is still better than many other rural areas of the Phils and my wifes family is relatively well off by Filipino standards), and it's still really hard to get used to.  Shower heads over the toilet seat, intermittent AC, cold water, bad internet, seatless toilets, stray dogs humping in the streets, roosters going off at the buttcrack of dawn.  It is a bit of an adjustment, but I really love my time out in the province now.  It's a great way to slow your brain down from the hustle a bustle, and it's absolutely beautiful, but it took me a while to appreciate it.  Had I not been broken in by being in the big city with all my western amenities nearby, I probably would never have wanted to go back. 

Thanks for this post - I really enjoyed reading it.

 

As someone who is looking to move to Cebu in the next few months, I really appreciate and understand what you have said.  I have been to the Philippines many times and stayed in Cebu, but only for 3 or 4 weeks at a time.  I am not married and don't have a girlfriend, but am looking to move to Cebu and possibly spend time the province, so reading this reminds me that not all things are as you would hope.

 

I like the places around Ayalya Mall and IT Park, but not much else around Cebu City itself.  I would love to find a nice place in the province, but apart from places on Bohol and areas around Panglao the luxuries (read: warm shower and proper toilet) seem to go down hill quite quickly.

 

I am hopeful, but open minded.

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Tukaram (Tim)
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My original plan was to start in Cebu and look around from there.  Not a very original plan ha ha.  A lot of expats start in Cebu because it is big - but not Manila big.

 

Of course I met a girl... and ended up in Iloilo, never even made to Cebu.  I had never even heard of Iloilo before.  Most of the expats in the area seem to be here because of a woman.   No one really planned on Iloilo.  It is a really nice area though.  Lot of growth, most of the Western amenities are available.  Our Mayor is rated, by a worldwide mayor's association as the #5 top mayor in the world (I don't know... but he seems ok).  I know some guys online that live in the condos in Manila and would not live anywhere else.  For them it is good - I would just as soon stay in the US.  Maybe when I am older I could see more benefits to condo living.  I do love the city living though, but i was a city boy in the US too.  I tell people I am not really from Texas... I am from Dallas.  It ain't the same.

 

The area you pick will make a huge difference.  My biggest issue with Iloilo is our beaches suck, and there is no diving within hours of us (no air, no dive shops, nothing).  Other than that it is pretty good.  We are moving, in 2 days, back out of the city.  Only 17 Km out but as far as infrastructure goes it may as well be the province.  No rent, so that is nice, but an hour by jeepney to get to the mall. 

 

We were out near the new house, eating at Mang inasal, today and I had one of those odd moments.  Looking out the window I saw jeepneys, some shanties, the cock fighting ring, and tons of people... and I kind of was confused where I was for a second.  Doesn't happen often and does not last long, but it is the closest to being homesick I ever get.  Just a touch of "disconnectedness".  Then the waiter offered me another scoop of rice and I was ok again.  Being 8,000 miles from friends and family is probably an odd way to live, but I enjoy it most of the time  :tiphat:

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