How is Cebu city currently? For single tourists and semi-expats

[DanBlack]

Hi there. Planning to move to Cebu around February. I have been living in Phuket for about 15yrs. Could anybody tell me if the rent, restaurants, and motorbike rental are comparable

Thanks

[Kingpin]

59 minutes ago, DanBlack said:

Hi there. Planning to move to Cebu around February. I have been living in Phuket for about 15yrs. Could anybody tell me if the rent, restaurants, and motorbike rental are comparable

Restaurants aren't good, traffic is terrible but everyone understands English here. Never a better time to rent a place.

 

 

[Old55]

7 hours ago, DanBlack said:

Hi there. Planning to move to Cebu around February. I have been living in Phuket for about 15yrs. Could anybody tell me if the rent, restaurants, and motorbike rental are comparable

Thanks

Welcome to the forum Dan.

Have you visited Philippines recently? You may want to do so before moving.

Filipino people are wonderful. 

From what I've read Thailand beats out Philippines in most cases. Thai rent is generally lower for better quality accommodations. Thai food is far better than typical Filipino food IMO. Philippines is seriously lacking overall infrastructure.

Motorbike rental is not expensive. 

Cebu City specific info;

Traffic in Cebu City can be gridlocked for hours during peak times. Air quality is poor at times noise level is high. Rent in the city depends on the condo or apartment it will be more expensive in general than Thailand. Figure 400+ USD for a reasonably nice smaller condo. Outside the city things are of course cheaper. 

There is a good selection of quality foreign foods in most major grocery stores somewhat expensive though. Restaurants, Filipino food is cheap much of it is not to western taste but it depends on your taste. There are a large number of good to great restaurants featuring cuisine of other countries. Prices of those compared to the US is reasonable. Fresh seafood vegetables and fruit is reasonably cheap not sure compared to Thailand though.

Internet is overall just Okay. Sometimes there are outages or it will lag speed depends on your plan or luck. Mixed bag on resolving internet issues. Power outages are not unheard of. 

[Kingpin]

10 hours ago, Old55 said:

There are a large number of good to great restaurants featuring cuisine of other countries.

Maybe inside the 5-star hotels, and there are only 2 of those in Cebu City...

[Old55]

16 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

Maybe inside the 5-star hotels, and there are only 2 of those in Cebu City...

I've been to dozens of fine restaurants in Cebu City not counting upscale resorts and hotels. 

[Kingpin]

4 minutes ago, Old55 said:

I've been to dozens of fine restaurants in Cebu City not counting upscale resorts and hotels. 

You mentioned  "featuring cuisine of other countries", I'd like to see that list.

[Old55]

3 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

You mentioned  "featuring cuisine of other countries", I'd like to see that list.

Clearly we don't agree and that's okay. 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Old55

[hk blues]

35 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

You mentioned  "featuring cuisine of other countries", I'd like to see that list.

Even the most cursory review of Trip Advisor will help you out on that. 

[Kingpin]

3 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Even the most cursory review of Trip Advisor will help you out on that. 

Trip Advisor agrees with me.

36 minutes ago, Old55 said:

Clearly we don't agree and that's okay. 

Strange name for a restaurant.

Here's my list.

Chinese: 0

Japanese: 0

Mexican: 0

Indian: 1 (Farooj)

Italian: 1 (Travolata)

And even they get 0 for atmosphere. It's not a place for cuisine, and that's a big understatement.

edit: except the aforementioned rare five star hotels.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Kingpin

[Old55]

6 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

Trip Advisor agrees with me.

Strange name for a restaurant.

Here's my list.

Chinese: 0

Japanese: 0

Mexican: 0

Indian: 1 (Farooj)

Italian: 1 (Travolata)

And even they get 0 for atmosphere. It's not a place for cuisine, and that's a big understatement.

edit: except the aforementioned rare five star hotels.

I completely respect your opinion. We all have different tastes and expectations.