Planning my "scouting" trip

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Jollygoodfellow
Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Tstone said:

8 MB internet is more than fine, it's the reliability I've heard is the bigger issue.  I've heard condos are super small compared to houses though for comparable $, is this true?  My thought was I'd rent a house but I suppose it depends, are there advantages to a condo even though it's smaller?  

My internet is dependable but Im In Cebu city with skycable. Condos can be small or large depending on what you want to pay and location. Mine is 22 sqm and you get used to it. This is a studio but 1,2,3 bedrooms are available. 

The advantages of a condo which is not for everyone but generally much quieter than a house. Can be cooler, view, security, maintenance man available if something needs doing, no garden maintenance, swimming pool if your into that but like I say depends on what you like.

In my case convenience, so close to everything and when the new Ayala mall opens like 150 meters up the road there really is not much need to go anywhere unless I wanted too.

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Clermont
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1 hour ago, Tstone said:

3000 peso a night sounds steeper than I'd like to pay.

No worries, that was just a ballpark figure for something with a bit of creature comfort, remember you only get what you pay for and not being there yet, don't expect to much for a cheaper hotel regardless of their glossy advertisement pictures. You'll get the drift of it once you land, good luck. :thumbsup:

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Tstone
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8 minutes ago, Clermont said:

No worries, that was just a ballpark figure for something with a bit of creature comfort, remember you only get what you pay for and not being there yet, don't expect to much for a cheaper hotel regardless of their glossy advertisement pictures. You'll get the drift of it once you land, good luck. :thumbsup:

Yeah if I'm doing a "scouting trip"  I don't want to spoil myself while I'm there, lol.  I want to get as strong a taste for daily life there as I can.

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Dave Hounddriver
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6 hours ago, Tstone said:

if the number is 500k

Yeah, that's what I had at age 53.  Its gone at age 63.  Good luck with that.  (Or good management :hystery: Obviously mine sucked)

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Tstone
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Posted
8 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Yeah, that's what I had at age 53.  Its gone at age 63.  Good luck with that.  (Or good management :hystery: Obviously mine sucked)

Well that's not my exact number but if 500k only last you 10 years that doesn't fill me with confidence.  Ugh :D

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Gary D
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If you want to get a better idea of accommodation perhaps go airbnb rather than hotels, it may give you a better handle on what is available as you will be staying in the wider community.

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robert k
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Posted
21 hours ago, Rooster said:

Ok,.  I'm curious, what is it that attracts foreigners to the Davao area compared to other areas in the PI where there are far less kidnapping and beheadings of foreigners?

I suspect, virgin territory, figuratively, or sometimes literally.

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Dave Hounddriver
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2 hours ago, Tstone said:

Well that's not my exact number but if 500k only last you 10 years that doesn't fill me with confidence. 

Poor money management (thought it would last much longer and let 'an expert' mismanage it for me) and the crash of 2008 plus a couple of investment scams did me in.  Can happen to anyone, more so if its never happened to you before as we learn more from our mistakes I found out.

But it should have lasted me and yours probably will.  I had a friend who retired the same time I did, with about the same amount, and he made his last until just recently.  He died with a whole lot more money in the bank than me.  Too bad he couldn't take it with him.  He was pretty proud of his money management.

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Jim Sibbick
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5 hours ago, Tstone said:

Yeah if I'm doing a "scouting trip"  I don't want to spoil myself while I'm there, lol.  I want to get as strong a taste for daily life there as I can.

Good.

If you visit Cebu City, you can stay where I stay then. At the Cebu Century Hotel. I have been staying there off and on since 1995.  It is P1150 per night, with discounts for long term stays, good for 4, for a family room the size of a double garage with private bathroom, aircon, fridge, free wifi, free local landline telephone calls to any where in Cebu, cable TV with about 95 channels and room service until 10pm. They have a 24 hour lobby. There is a bank with ATM machine right next to the front door. Also at the front door is a purified water dispenser that dispenses about P100ml purified water for P1. So it costs about P3.5 per litre. use your own bottle.

Cebu Century is in Downtown Cebu City. The area will give you a VERY strong taste of daily life in a city. If you want a full description of the area. let me know and I will post that plus a link to video of the area too.

I DO eat street food. With my ex fiance, we used to have a barbecue stand in the jeepney terminal at night. It never made any one sick including ourselves and we out our own left overs  I have been eating the street food in downtown Cebu City on Colon for more than 20 years. It has never made me sick either. Even after I found out that some of the meat used downtown is double dead meat, Meaning it died before it was killed. I have kept eating the street food because the food is so nice.

The temperature isn't 90 Fahrenheit all year around. During a typhoon it might be 15c or 16c. In December/January in Cebu City, normal daytime temperatures is low 20's celcius (about 70f)  It still feels warm though because of the high humidity.

It doesn't matter how much money you have to live on in the Philippines, you can get by on it. It is just the level of comfort, quality and ambiance that will vary. A couple of years ago, I was asked to find a boarding house deal for a foreigner. The deal was, he would live in a boarding house room with aircon and double bed, the boarding house owner would  provide his breakfast and dinner and wash his clothes. It was shared TV and shared bathroom. Although he could have arranged his own cable TV for an additional P400 per month. The grand sum for this, P12,500 per month. About usd $250.

If you decide you just want to live on usd $2000 per month, live the lifestyle that allows you to do that.  With your usd $500,000 making 5% per year, even with inflation, you should be dead before the money runs out. 

By the way, that P6500 per month apartment on Leyte  that I already posted about. It is 87 m2 (about 940 feet2) 

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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19 minutes ago, Jim Sibbick said:

Cebu Century is in Downtown Cebu City. The area will give you a VERY strong taste of daily life in a city

Did you mean strong taste?  Or perhaps strong smell? :hystery: I have spent my share of time in that part of Cebu and it's definitely "urban".  Don't get me wrong, on my budget I like the area and I like the Century hotel (except they do not have adequate parking and that stops me from staying there much.)  

I'm just trying to say its not for everyone.  In fact, most new tourists I have taken there turn their nose up at it. People are spoiled these days.

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