Western style living conditions - New Member considering Mactan

[Jeffjett]

I am looking to start off in Mactan Newtown.  I have never been to the Philippines but I spent some time in Hawaii so I am somewhat familiar to the heat, humidity and bugs!!  I'm not saying Hawaii is the PH, but a little similar.  I know they are putting up a lot of new modern condos in Newtown and I think at least at the start I will be living in one.  I watch several Philippine bloggers and this area seems to be praised for its modern shops, restaurants, etc.  This will be my base of ops to travel the rest of the country to determine where I will want to spend more time.  I understand from my research that female companionship should not be an issue.  I am financially independent, so costs while a consideration, will not be a big issue. I am not slaved to a small pension that has me living paycheck to paycheck.  I am 66yo and in good health but being at least somewhat close geographically to good medical care is important as I age.  I want to look at Baugio City and Taygatay to begin.  I will be buying a vehicle when I arrive, and perhaps later on a scooter once I get settled.  There are so many areas I need to look at to choose.  I love the beach but I don't need to be physically close to one.  

 

I will read the opinions of forum members to add locations to my list as time gets closer to the country opening up.  I will seek to obtain the SRRV so I don't need to  worry about a visa expiring.  I really do understand this type of life is not for everyone, and perhaps I will be in that boat.  At least it will give me the opportunity to try it out, and also a base for touring the rest of Asia while I am in the neighborhood.  I won't be giving up my Medicare so I will be keeping my US health insurance in case I have a major health issue.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Moderator Note:  I moved this post to a new thread because the other thread has just about run its course.

[Jollygoodfellow]

6 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I will seek to obtain the SRRV so I don't need to  worry about a visa expiring. 

You probably know that the SRRV is on hold and no one knows when or if it will be active again. 

6 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I am looking to start off in Mactan Newtown.  I have never been to the Philippines

My opinion is if you are thinking of staying in Newtown or anywhere start by finding Airbnb units and stay a few weeks in different places. IT park have western style living and so do other places. As for Mactan island, once you leave Newtown you are in my opinion in a shitty area. Sorry to those who live there but its my opinion.

7 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I will be buying a vehicle when I arrive, and perhaps later on a scooter once I get settled. 

You might change your mind once you hit the road in the first taxi. Driving here is not for everyone. 

7 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I won't be giving up my Medicare so I will be keeping my US health insurance in case I have a major health issue.

I will let someone else comment on that. You mean if your able to get back home to use it? 

[scott h]

9 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I have never been to the Philippines but I spent some time in Hawaii

Jeff, welcome to the forum, here you will find lots of boots on the ground experience to answer specific questions.

Now having said that and as a fellow Socal native (San Diego) let me be the first one to rain on your parade.

comparing the Phil to Hawaii is like comparing Palms springs to Laredo Texas, yes they are both hot, dry and desert but besides from 7-11s and Mcdonalds the similarity ends there.

I am sure that you have been to Tijuana. The FIRST thing our visitors from San Diego say when they arrive is "This is just like TJ." So take with a large grain of salt what you see on positive blogs. A lot of what they say is true in that small specific area, but drive 3 minutes out of the gate and your in TJ.

9 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I am financially independent,

The one caveat I will is that if you have the money it would be entirely possible to set up a base of operations like Makati or Ayala Alabang in Manila or IT park in Cebu (nice upscale enclaves) and go from resort to resort location and enjoy the Hawaii type lifestyle.

9 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I will be keeping my US health insurance

 Be very careful here. I have Tricare, which is accepted here but only at specific hospitals. You will need to see if your plan is even good here.

9 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

obtain the SRRV

Now, my advice (which is worth exactly what your paying for it ) is to come here on a tourist visa, you can renew this for up to 2 years I believe. That will give you plenty of time to travel all over the place and see if this is really for you.

Now that was the bad news. The good or great news is that this is a great place to live.........If and only IF a person can tolerate all the warts on the face of the lovely lady.

The members here are brutally honest, I encourage you to ask specific questions (even start a new topic for each one) trust me you will get truthful answers

[Yeochief]

10 hours ago, Jeffjett said:

I won't be giving up my Medicare

I don't think MEDICARE is available outside the United States, you might want to research that.

[Jack D]

Wait until the pandemic is over. That’s what I will do, since my Filipina wife and I are holding off our visit to the Philippines until then.

[RBM]

24 minutes ago, Jack D said:

Wait until the pandemic is over. That’s what I will do, since my Filipina wife and I are holding off our visit to the Philippines until then.

And pray tell me when that will be please.

[Jack D]

1 hour ago, RBM said:

And pray tell me when that will be please.

The last pandemic was the Spanish Flu, and that lasted for 2 years, and there were no vaccines for it. My best guess is that COVID-19 will end in December of this year.

[GeoffH]

20 minutes ago, Jack D said:

The last pandemic was the Spanish Flu, and that lasted for 2 years, and there were no vaccines for it. My best guess is that COVID-19 will end in December of this year.

The use of vaccines combined with better medical care and wider use of suppression methods like social distancing, lock downs and masking will tend to prolong the pandemic IMHO.  The whole idea behind most of these is to spread and flatten the peaks and widen the troughs between them which reduces the peak numbers that hospitals have to care for (which is good but it does mean the whole pandemic will tend to last longer).

My guess is it won't start to trend down on a world wide basis until end of 2022 and could run well into 2023.

[scott h]

7 hours ago, Jack D said:

The last pandemic was the Spanish Flu, and that lasted for 2 years,

Here it the problem with this comparison. In 1917 due to the medical conditions at that time, there was no where near the number of vulnerable people with comorbidities or obese or just plain old people then. You got the bug and you either recovered of died. It took two years to develop true "herd" immunity. 

Currently the world is trying to avoid infection while waiting for the miracle jab. So unless every one gets it the end of this year might be optimistic