My life experience so far in Philippines

[Tommy T.]

I have been quiet for a while...

I have a number of comments regarding my life here so far:

Negatives:

Language can sometimes be a hassle since many people here do not understand or speak English. Many are also shy because they are afraid to not speak English. This is not their fault at all. I try to work with them the best I can and not criticize or correct them.

My wife and I bought some land and built a small house. The issues were incredible due to poor management from the builder, poor workmanship and sometimes substandard materials. The bureaucratic hassles for land purchasing were incredible I would never do that again here. Just yesterday, we had a guy come here from the roofing company (second roofs all over the house since the first ones were awful) because we had some significant  leaks still. At least, this company has a "lifetime" warranty and, so far are honoring it. It might help that the owner is a former student of L at high school?

Ants... My God! Every day I go out and spray for ants, especially the small red ones that bite and itch and hurt. Remember that our home is more or less in the country and not in the city.

A neighbour who owns a big section of land recently clear-cut many acres (hectares) of mango orchard right next to our property. I paid 1k pesos to save one nice mango tree right across from our property to continue to give us shade in the morning and for a bit of nature.

Last week a worker found a 2 meter python on our roof (!). He took it away because he wanted it as a pet(???).

Recently we had a rat infestation. So I put out rat bait and we have, so far, killed at least four rats. I think some of them might have been inside the house, considering rat poop found in some places. We have found and disposed of four rat carcasses in the past two days.

A few days ago I discovered a tuko in the kitchen. I tried to chase him out, but he hid behind the refrigerator. L and her daughter saw him again the next night late... Not sure if he is still inside or not, but I wear shorts if I venture to the kitchen area at night!

Prices... Everything has gone up in price recently, sometimes doubling in price. That seems to be happening everywhere in the world, but it is also apparent here.

Noise... Not every day, but often someone will fire up their FM radio to distortion loud to listen to a morning talk guy and old music. We have a neighbour who plays the same loud music most days and it is the same always. Sometimes there is the boom boom boom of some sort of music (?) from various locations. And this morning there was, what I call "circus music" from a neighbour a distance away.

Another edit: I forgot also to mention driving... Yes, I have a car, but I am honestly afraid to drive in the city, and will not drive in the city at night. There seem to be no rules with drivers. Motorcycles, jeepneys and taxis are the worst. Most car drivers are clueless or just follow what others do without regard to anyone around them. But there have been lots of reports on this forum about that, so I will leave it at that. I do not drive at night - scared to death of hitting someone or something - dark clothing, dark skinned people, jeepneys or tricycles with no lights....etc.

Positives:

The Filipino people are generally very friendly and welcoming to me. Our neighbours tell L that they are watching out for me. I am the only foreigner in this area so am a bit of a novelty.

The climate is hot, but tolerable, especially if we run the air/con in the evenings or at night. During the day, I run a floor fan and that keeps me happy.

The food is good. I don't particularly eat much rice, but the other foods - pork, beef, chicken and veggies - are good  and sometimes healthy. I love the veggie lumpia and raw fish kinilaw. The pancit - which is a Filipino noodle dish - is also good if prepared with lots of veggies.

Tanduay rum is still cheap!

Out here in the country, it is mostly quiet and peaceful. As noted above, sometimes that is disturbed, but not usually for long. This will change tomorrow since it will be fiesta here...yuck!

Electricity is very expensive, compared to in USA, but water is practically free. Our power bill is near $100/month, but the water is about $5/month, maximum.

Internet is not super expensive - $25/month or so - and reasonably fast. We can stream movies using Netflix almost always. We bought Cignal for satellite connection and it works well so, essentially, we have cable TV also and it is also about $25/month. 

I found I can find most items needed for cooking in the stores here, but sometimes - as someone before noted - they are "out of stock."

Anyway... I hope this gives some information for anyone wishing to live here in Davao City area.

Edit: I forgot to mention that, if it were not for Grab, I would not be enjoying my life here so much. I have ordered so many things from Grab - pizza and other foods - and Lazada, because I am a bit afraid to venture out during this nasty pandemic.

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Tommy T.

[jimeve]

32 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Language can sometimes be a hassle since many people here do not understand or speak English. Many are also shy because they are afraid to not speak English. This is not their fault at all. I try to work with them the best I can and not criticize or correct them.

Welcome to the Philippines, lol.

and welcome back,missed your posts 

Edited October 12, 2022 by jimeve

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

Ants... My God! Every day I go out and spray for ants, especially the small red ones that bite and itch and hurt. Remember that our home is more or less in the country and not in the city.

Nice to hear from you Tommy.  Buy some boric acid powder, I got mine from Lazada.   Mix it with sugar and add enough water to make a thin paste in a shallow dish.  Leave it were the ants congregate but away from where pets might find it.  The ants will take it back to the nest to feed the queen.  Takes a few days but you should notice a difference.  I use brown sugar and a one to one mixture, but you can experiment and see what works best for you.

Speaking of construction.  It took seven long months but are new longspan roof is complete following the Christmas typhoon.  We had used this contractor before and were happy with his work.  This work also turned out to our satifaction.  No problems other than the difficulty of finding materials. 

[Old55]

Good to hear from you Tommy.

Two meter long python! Dang I would be screaming like a little girl.

[Kingpin]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

if it were not for Grab, I would not be enjoying my life here so much. I have ordered so many things from Grab - pizza and other foods - and Lazada

Agreed, I solved most of the negatives you mentioned, and some you didn't, by moving into a gated village and getting everything delivered to the front door.

[BrettGC]

Great to hear from you Tommy and hear that you're doing well!  I moved about 3 hours from "civilisation" about 3 months ago and find your experiences similar to mine.  Life is interesting to say the least but still enjoyable.  

[OnMyWay]

Hi Tommy.  I think you would enjoy Subic and I will be selling my house soon!  Close to the Yacht Club, quiet, driving not an issue.  More expensive though, of course.

[Tommy T.]

Yeah... I hear you, OMW... But L is centered here in Davao and works here still as a teacher. I enjoyed my brief visit to Olangapo a few years ago, but L will not want to move... Plus, we have our new house here. It is plain and simple, but surrounded by incredible plants all over, so we both love that.

 

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, BrettGC said:

Great to hear from you Tommy and hear that you're doing well!  I moved about 3 hours from "civilisation" about 3 months ago and find your experiences similar to mine.  Life is interesting to say the least but still enjoyable.  

Yeah... things change daily, but are mainly okay... I prefer this to living in USA so that sort of sums it up.

 

[Joey G]

How about some recipes!   You usually have some good ones...