Dasmarinas or Iloilo City?

[Mike J]

7 hours ago, Eddie1 said:

they say it is boring there

Sounds like a place that I would enjoy.   

[Mike J]

15 hours ago, Viking said:

True, but it is mostly the east coast of Luzon that take the biggest hits. Typhoons get strength over water, so they are the strongest when they make landfall, but they then quickly get weaker when passing over land.

NCR, as you know, is on the west side of Luzon, when the typhoons get to the NCR area, they have already lost much of their strength and the NCR is therefore much less affected.

Flooding seems to be the major problem with typhoons in Luzon, especially NCR.

https://constructph.com/top-10-flood-prone-areas-to-live-in-the-philippines/

The first seven of the top ten flood areas are in and around Manila.  I did not post the text of the article as it has quite a few pictures.

[scott h]

20 minutes ago, Mike J said:

The first seven of the top ten flood areas are in and around Manila.

Have to push back just a little bit Mike...just a little,,,as the OP only wanted reasons not to move to D'marinas...

I think flooding is a problem everywhere in the PI,,,,during the storms there is just to much water in to short a period of time for any drainage system to control it.....Flooding in the metro area is no worse than other areas, it just depends on where you are in the area. 

We have lived here for 10 years now and have only had one direct hit in 2013. Area was flooded but only for a few hours and the power out for 4 days,,,,since then water usually drains away in about an hour.

The think is the Metro area has the infrastructure to recover a lot faster than provincial area.....just my experience....

[RBM]

8 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I have heard that more than a few times myself.  Enough that I never had any desire to check out Iloilo.  I got as far as Bacolod and it did not impress me so I went back to Duma.  As in all things, I suspect that a person is only bored when they don't find what they are looking for.  I wonder what the Op is looking for.

Interesting, I have lived in both and choose Bacolod head and shoulders over Dumaguete. Having said this I was pleasantly surprised on Dumaguete visit recently, they have made a wonderful job of extending the promenade and appears far less tricycles than earlier. Really enjoyed the visit, noticed much fewer foreigners also.

Still the nature around Bacolod once one is familiar here leaves Dumaguete for dead. Before anyone comments I have spent many hours hiking and trekking in Dumaguete area including Talinis.  

[Onemore52]

Here in Camarines Norte,Bicol we have been hit every year by the weather, if it’s not a direct hit it’s the resultant wether caused by it.

Every year the river out the back of our property floods because of the weir built downstream, which was built to give the surrounding areas a source of water for their rice farms, so the master gate valve is probably not working, or the person who is in charge of opening it and relieving the water has probably moved on.

Two years ago a promenade was built to join 3 major towns along the coast line which was successful in terms of the number of eateries that have sprung up, which I assume means that the disposable income has increased. They also installed solar lighting along the promenade but they only lasted 6 months before they were stolen, a stretch of 3 kilometres with lighting on both sides every 250 meters. All gone.

To digress just a bit, when I was living in Perth last century a freeway was built to connect the city with the Northern suburbs, along the centre of the freeway they planted shrubs every 25metres, for a distance of about 10 kilometres, they all disappeared in a week.

I did see another foreigner in town the other day, so that makes 3 of us.

[hk blues]

14 hours ago, Eddie1 said:

HK, please feel free to give them reasons, I hear many good things of Iloilo yet I have 2 UK friends living there and both are leaving to come back to Dumaguete area as they say it is boring there.  Your opinion?

It depends what you're looking for but as a married guy with a 9-year old son I'm looking for a peaceful family life.  For those with a different situation it would be a different matter. 

I think boring is fair comment for those looking for an ex-pat community and vibrant nightlife with a lot of bars. 

It's a good place to live for me in my situation but 100% see how it wouldn't work for others. 

[Viking]

7 hours ago, Mike J said:

Flooding seems to be the major problem with typhoons in Luzon, especially NCR.

https://constructph.com/top-10-flood-prone-areas-to-live-in-the-philippines/

The first seven of the top ten flood areas are in and around Manila.  I did not post the text of the article as it has quite a few pictures.

Flooding can be a problem, but when settling down in an area you have to stay away from the "lowlands". It's more problematic for the really poor people, they don't have much choice.

I hope life is coming back to normal now in your place after the typhoon you experienced recently.

Stay safe.

[hk blues]

13 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I have heard that more than a few times myself.  Enough that I never had any desire to check out Iloilo.  I got as far as Bacolod and it did not impress me so I went back to Duma.  As in all things, I suspect that a person is only bored when they don't find what they are looking for.  I wonder what the Op is looking for.

As I said in another post, it's boring if you are looking for a vibrant ex-pat community and plenty of bars with pretty girls.   

That said, It's not the sleepy place it used to be and maybe many visited 10 or more years ago before the major upgrades took place. 

[Mike J]

10 minutes ago, Viking said:

I hope life is coming back to normal now in your place after the typhoon you experienced recently.

The work started on replacing our roof but it is going slowly due to weather and Philippine festivals, holidays, etc.  There is beginning to be a trickle of tourists back but I expect the economy will not recover for at least a year.  Still a lot of damage to be repaired and the business's lack funds due to covid.  Also a lot of loss and damage to fruit trees.  The wife says the price of mango and banana have increased.

Holy week schedule so no workers.

Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, Easter Sunday.

I fully expect Hangover Monday, Recovery Tuesday,  might see the crew again on Wednesday?

[BrettGC]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

The work started on replacing our roof but it is going slowly due to weather and Philippine festivals, holidays, etc.  There is beginning to be a trickle of tourists back but I expect the economy will not recover for at least a year.  Still a lot of damage to be repaired and the business's lack funds due to covid.  Also a lot of loss and damage to fruit trees.  The wife says the price of mango and banana have increased.

Holy week schedule so no workers.

Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, Easter Sunday.

I fully expect Hangover Monday, Recovery Tuesday,  might see the crew again on Wednesday?

Feeling that pain, we're stilll having problems finding someone to redo all the eaves on the place in Guilhulngan after Odette.