Coming To Baguio City

[RoMac]

Questions for North American expats living in the BAGUIO City area:

 

 

My wife is a Philippine-born Canadian (while I am a Canuck through and through); we're still gainfully employed but just arrived at a retireable age where we now have options. One option is to try living in the vicinity of Baguio city (where my wife grew up). We're extremely eager to hear from expats currently living there to share useful insights (good, bad and in between) gleaned during their own stints in the city of pines. Baguio pluses and minuses vis-à-vis other cities or lowland provinces? Cost of living, peace and order, weather, air quality, etc. Cheers in advance. Ron and Celine

[Old55]

Welcome to the forum Ron and Celine! :tiphat:  We are pleased to have you join us.

 

We have members experienced with the Baguio City area.

Please ask this question again as a new topic because the introduction posts are locked after a few days time. And feel free to ask any other questions you guys may have as well.  :thumbsup:

[Dave Hounddriver]

Welcome.  Just a quick response from me.  I considered Baguio as my first choice, coming from Canada, due to the climate.  When I found out that air travel to Baguio was inconsistent or non-existent I crossed it off my list and went for a place nearer the ocean.  Enjoy your time on this forum.

[earthdome]

I lived in Baguio for 2 years recently. Loved the climate and in general. Only downside is that it is getting too big with over 400,000 people. And way too crowded during the peak of the tourist season. Over Christmas/New Years holiday last year there were 1.5 million people who visited Baguio and it turned many of the streets into parking lots. Except for those peak tourist times I loved Baguio. I can answer more specific questions in a new topic since this introduction topic automatically closes after a few days.

[RoMac]

Cheers much to Old55, the Hounddriver and earthdome for quickly laying the virtual welcome mat and taking no time weighing in on Baguio city living. I did some serious browsing around since becoming a forum member yesterday and now have the sense that:

 

1. Most importantly perhaps, the forum is a rich trove of very useful information on a broad gamut of expat life / survival topics;
2. While the site is run like a tight ship, a counter-balancing dash of levity and mildly colorful language (Jake gets away with some lines in Tagalog I’m sure) is tolerated, perhaps even encouraged for content texture (all good IMO);
3. A tight circle of high I.Q.’d, articulate, eloquent, humorous, well-meaning military vets from the U.K. and the U.S. (mostly, including Jake) dominate the posting. I find it fascinating that manly men who must have been tough-as-nails Rambos at one time in battle, could now talk about precious grandchildren using language so tender that jelly-soft hearts are exposed.  I further find it fascinating that a number of them regularly post from far-detached locales;
4. Mining for subtexts lacing the clever banter, one gets that forever-young gentlemen who hail from distant shores, who may have gone around the bend a number of times, can and do find love and happiness with young or younger Filipina ladies;
5. That one can and do learn to feel at home in a country so dissimilar on almost all levels to the British Isles and the land bounded by ‘sea to shining sea.’

 

I get that those who are in country may meet up every now and then to mutually breathe cultural oxygen, making believe they are home once more for the duration of the meet up, speaking and being answered in unaccented English.

 

Genuineness in all of the above is the whiff that I get and so, even if everything were an advertisement to try settling in the Philippines when one disengages from the rat race in the Western world, I want to buy. Thank you for all the ongoing revelations in this forum, witting or unwitting. It is just now a matter of time. I’ll see you all when I see you. 

 

Cheers again,

 

Ron M.

[Jake]

 

A tight circle of high I.Q.’d, articulate, eloquent, humorous......

 

I get that those who are in country may meet up every now and then to mutually breathe cultural oxygen, making believe they are home once more for the duration of the meet up, speaking and being answered in unaccented English.

 

Genuineness in all of the above is the whiff that I get....... 

 

Cheers again,

 

Ron M.

Hello Ron,

 

Wow, double wow!  As you may have noticed, I have dissected your post to assist my thought process in trying to reply in the most profound and eloquent way possible-- yeah, right.  You may have noticed also that I highlighted a few phrases to really get my juices going.  I won't go into details but basically I feel right at home when I articulate in F sharp and F flat so that you can really get a whiff in an unabridged and unaccented English, with a little bit of soy sauce of course.

 

Welcome aboard Ron and your lovely wife, Celine.  Respectfully -- Jake

Edited December 31, 2015 by Jake

[manofthecoldland]

   I see that you brought a little verbal pasalubong for us with your arrival on site. Much appreciated by all I'm sure, including me. 'Welcome' to the writing desk here, and I hope all goes well for you and your Mrs.  Well begun is half done, as is said, and since you're a deep reader, the odds are in your favor to achieve all you hope for. 

   To your point of inquiry.... I have never lived in Baguio, although I have spent time there on three occasions in years past, taking in the sights (I also liked the wood carving shops, colored ponies, good Aussie resto, etc.)

   Unfortunately, despite the milder, higher elevation climate, I found it a little too tourist-commercialized & tightly-populated for my own tastes. If you're used to urban, higher density life-styles, you might love it. 

   I like living close to the sea with lots of open field country around.

   Most men who fall in love with and marry a Filipina discover later that they rarely have the geographic living location choices here like they experience in North America.  The wife wants to live in her own linguistic and sub-cultural community where she can connect and not be an outsider. Once you are married, you usually don't have much of a choice if you want to live as a contented couple. I oft tell my NA friends who are thinking of relocating to the PI.... don't start a relationship and fall in love on-line if avoidable and you are really intent on living in the Islands. Better to find the right location that you feel comfortable with first, and then find the right woman, because odds are.... there's one in that nice place waiting for you, and that's where you'll most likely end up.

   Good luck and best wishes.

[RoMac]

Hello Ron,

 

Wow, double wow!  As you may have noticed, I have dissected your post to assist my thought process in trying to reply in the most profound and eloquent way possible-- yeah, right.  You may have noticed also that I highlighted a few phrases to really get my juices going.  I won't go into details but basically I feel right at home when I articulate in F sharp and F flat so that you can really get a whiff in an unabridged and unaccented English, with a little bit of soy sauce of course.

 

Welcome aboard Ron and your lovely wife, Celine.  Respectfully -- Jake

_____________________________________________________________________

 

 I see that you brought a little verbal pasalubong for us with your arrival on site. Much appreciated by all I'm sure, including me. 'Welcome' to the writing desk here, and I hope all goes well for you and your Mrs.  Well begun is half done, as is said, and since you're a deep reader, the odds are in your favor to achieve all you hope for . . .  -- manofthecoldland

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Alriiiggght . . . alriiiggght . . . alriiiggght . . . as Mathew McConaughey would say. Jake, 'wow' back at you - I'll cover your 'double wow' and raise you! Been doing a lot more skullduggery here and must say you are one prolific poster. You have the gift for written gab (spoken gab as well I suspect) not too many natural born Filipinos have. There's nothing not to like about your cyber persona and your Ivy League - like ease with the lingo (in contrast, my command of English is stilted, though not by choice). My big brother whom I visited often in San Diego was a U.S. sailor too (sailed on now) who saw action as a marine company 'doc' in Nam, so proud of him even now. But back to you - John Le Carre's book title "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" describes you some IMO. The record shows you've tinkered with slot machines, must have sewn a sock hole or two, you were a soldier for sure, and testosterone-laden enough at one time (even now?) to have spied on a beguiling 'femme fatale'. You talk about 'juices flowing' to which I say there need not be expiry dates on such bodily phenomena. Keep on 'whiffing' to continue to feel young, refrain from keeping your keyboard holstered for longer than necessary, keep honing your 'flats' and your 'sharps' and you'll remain the site fav long into tomorrow. Seriously, thanks for the love and the 'respect' (your default end salutation which is very effective BTW).

 

 

manofthecoldland, taking on this handle I'm guessing you were born and raised in a state straddling the US-Canadian border so we must have been neighbors at one time, before you moved to Panay. Am flattered that you regard some lines in my 2nd post as verbal 'pasalubong'; what I feel I write, and the truer the words are the more gravitas they seem to have and the better they seem to sit with the recipients. Thanks for sharing impressions of Baguio - this the un-candycoated type of submissions is what helps the most guiding decisions going forward. I can only take the latter half of your post under advisement as I have no wiggle room. I will have Celine in tow and am sure you are familiar with the literature passage: "Hell hath no fury . . . " Cheers anyways.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Great you are the top writer on the forum. Now please look at the quote/ selective quote  buttons and learn how to use them. Many reasons why those features are there including making it easier for all to follow the topic.  :thumbsup:

[RoMac]

Thanks JGF. Will do as you say and remedy my initial forum clumsiness. There is only one direction this can go. 

 

Ron M.