Before settling down in PH i'd like to spend up to 3 months in some remote island/s where i can be a away from confusion.

[graham59]

Dunno.... I survive, but it does take 30 minutes for an email to download. 

 

.

 

[f5m9v6]

13 hours ago, Old55 said:

No, you don't. It looks like you are still on moderation. Will forward to forum manager and see what's up. Doubt it's about you this has happened before.

Thanks a lot! I already have the message icon!

[f5m9v6]

13 hours ago, scott h said:

Hi and welcome to the forum. A lot of the answers might seem unhelpful so far, but they are reactions from Yanks, Brits, Aussie's and even from the EU based on years of living here. consider that the Philippines has 120 million people and habitable land is fairly scares. So unless you spend lots of money to move to a exlusive residential area you will have a hard time finding privacy with amenities. 

Remote areas have their own unique problems, not only insurgents and bandits in some areas but this story just appeared in the paper today

Maguindanao town under state of calamity over clan war | Philstar.com

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Sangguniang Bayan of Talitay in Maguindanao has placed the town under a state of calamity in connection with a clan war that displaced hundreds of families.

Members of the municipal disaster risk reduction and management council said 3,493 villagers from Barangays Gadungan and Pageda evacuated their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, 6th Infantry Division commander, urged Moro Islamic Liberation Front and local leaders to help settle the rift between followers of former Talitay mayor Montasir Sabal and the Watamama and Ameril clans on the other side.

The animosity between the two groups erupted when followers of Sabal allegedly shot dead a 16-year-old member of the Watamama family on March 26.

Hi Scott, thanks!

Well i think common sense should be applied here.
If some city more in the northern part has a history of safety, that's what I'll choose to settle!

The island thing is just to chill for up to 3 months before moving to the city.

 

[f5m9v6]

12 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

See the little smiley thing in my reply, it was a joke  

You will usually only get that in big cities. Your looking at remote so lucky to get internet at all. Even in the city its a high mbps.

In a major cities in some areas where you get https://pldthome.com/   you can have a business plan and up to 300mbps fiber. This is true as i have a contact who confirmed.

Edited April 8, 2021 by f5m9v6

[f5m9v6]

12 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I have fixed your issue. Something triggered your PM disabled, possibly your username. We like to share info for all to have an input rather than everyone just chatting amongst themselves in a PM. 

Sure thing!
 

[f5m9v6]

13 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Do you have an idea of what to expect? It will be a big culture shock. If you intend to stay some quiet island are you prepared for no internet? electric maybe 2 hours a day. Food will only be local so can you eat it? What visa will you arrive on and how easy will it be to renew if living somewhere off the beaten track. What sort of accommodation are you used to living in? Many things to consider.

Probably best to stay awhile somewhere in a mid size city to get a feel of things.

I know what you're saying! I am thinking about Dumaguete, Mindanao, or Pampanga.
The idea for the island 1st is not to pay two rents, cos when i'm in either city i will rent, so an escape for an island will be pure holiday getaway for some weeks and then return.

For now i just want suggestions for a nice island to visit with internet. Nothing else!

Maybe i'll just stick with Siquijor or El Nido.

Edited April 8, 2021 by f5m9v6

[f5m9v6]

12 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I'll second what Jollygoodfellow says.  Being remote has it's advantages and disadvantages.  Starting with your internet you can almost forget the speed you are after if living in a remote place.  The internet providers chase the money and in many areas the locals are still using the old keypad phones.  

Constant electricity is another issue.  Some remote areas still aren't on 24hr power supply and some that are meant to be have regular brown outs. Next will be access to drinking water, food, medical facilities and immigration for your visa run.  You'll be looking at a town of at least 5k people spread out to get even the basics. Filipinos love to be together and love videoke and cockerels even more. If you try to get somewhere rural to live it will be a shack surrounded by noise.  

Also unless you look Filipino within 24hrs of you arriving in an area everyone will know where you are and your every move.  You'll blend in more and have more peace if you pick a tourist area believe it or not. There's plenty of long term rentals inside resorts with private security, no videoke, cockerels and semi decent wifi with cable tv.

I live on what would normally be the busiest island in the Philippines and can go days without talking to anyone.  I close my front door and open my balcony to look out over jungle and open fields.  A choice of about ten beaches, three of which are always deserted, access to Western groceries, fast wifi and an immigration office 15 mins away.  If I go out no one stares at me as being foreign is common here. 

Yes boracay is super nice!
I am looking at Dumaguete, Mindanao, Pampanga. And i will be able to get decent speed there.

Probably a good idea to live in a foreigner neighborhood. That was a very good point actual. Glad you mentioned it. Thanks! :)

Edited April 8, 2021 by f5m9v6

[f5m9v6]

11 hours ago, graham59 said:

Dunno.... I survive, but it does take 30 minutes for an email to download. 

 

.

 

Oh, that would be impossible to do any work me :)

Where are you located if it's OK to ask?

[sonjack2847]

If you are thinking of working online you need to be in the city as the provinces take what`s left of everything. Mostly Islands are for visiting at weekends. 

[BrettGC]

10 hours ago, f5m9v6 said:

In a major cities in some areas where you get https://pldthome.com/   you can have a business plan and up to 300mbps fiber. This is true as i have a contact who confirmed.

As most will attest to, there are no truth in advertising laws in The Philippines.  A good example of this are the skin whitening creams, many filipinas honestly believe that over time these creams will will lighten their skin permanently. 

The same goes for internet connections, unless you're in Manila or Cebu, advertised speeds are never achieved.  This includes the provincial capitals eg Dumaguete, Davao City etc.  I'd suggest your contact does some speed testing using something like https://www.speedtest.net/ to verify the speeds.  The president made some noise last year about the providers getting their act together but nothing seems to have progressed beyond the usual snail's pace of infrastructure improvements in PI.  However, as a frequent visitor to Dumaguete and surrounds I can say that hotel wifi (so a shared connection) is passable for streaming, email, browsing etc but anything beyond that is not; online gaming, video calls (sketchy 50% of the time) etc.  I can't comment on home connections there though, but there are many on here that can give you more information on that. 

 2 hours north in Guihulngan City, where the wife and I have a house, it's much the same, specifically with Globe (one of the providers) on the equivalent of a cable connection most of the time.  They're currently rolling out fibre to the area though, so we'll see.  

What about access to your funds?  Transfer fees or international credit card charges can get a little expensive over time and as a visitor, you can't open a local bank account to begin with.   It's hit and miss once you receive your ACR-I card on a tourist visa once you qualify for it but some banks have accepted them.  

Link to internet speed test:  https://www.speedtest.net/