Question For All Foreigners Living In The Philippines

[Jim Sibbick]

If did not have your wife or girlfriend and woman were the same in Philippines as they are in the west. Would you still want to live in the Philippines ?

Yes!Marrying a Filipina (again) is of no interest to me!I like the lifestyle and the cheap living!Regards: Jim Sibbick

Hi Jim. Do you just date women all the time or do you have a steady girl friend. I was just wondering as I married right away and always wondered what it would have been like just dating here in the Philippines. I imagine it would be a lot of fun but to late now Happily married.

Well I have several "girl friends". Plus, I have several ex girlfriends trying to get back in my good books and a host of others I have to beat away with a stick. I find it is always a relief when one of them contacts me to say they have moved on, as it makes my life less complicated.Regards: Jim

[Mr Lee]

If did not have your wife or girlfriend and woman were the same in Philippines as they are in the west. Would you still want to live in the Philippines ?

For me it was mostly about my wife and then later on became about some of the wonderful people I have been lucky enough to meet in the Philippines, with most of them being Filipino. While we only live there part of the year, I would have to say that had it not been for my wife and her introducing me to the culture, then I would probably not be living even part of the year in the Philippines, but since meeting my wife and learning about the Philippines, then I believe that if I knew then what I know now, and if I could only afford to live in one place then it would probably be full time in the Philippines because of how I am treated by those who I do my best to also treat the way I wish to be treated. I am not sure if the above makes sense to those who do not live in or spend a lot of time in the Philippines but I have found that while I try hard to be nice to everyone I meet, in the US it is often not reciprocated, while in the Philippines it is not only reciprocated but I have found that most Filipinos often go the extra mile. I guess what I am saying is that in the US I am just one of many, whereas in the Philippines I guess I stand out and therefore seem to be remembered most places we frequent and maybe because of that I am treated better than in my own home country. Now if all foreigners would treat Filipinos and others with kindness and respect and if some Filipinos would just wake up and learn to treat their own as nice as they treat us, then the Philippines would in fact be a paradise for all IMO.

I wonder if you would be receiving that kindness and respect from some. if foreigners had a reputation of being poor. I agree that they don,t treat their own as nice as they treat us, But most of their own are poor.

Sorry I must have missed this question and just saw it. I honestly do not know the answer to that except to say that those who we have befriended are not the type who want to be our friends because they want anything from us, but yes the average person in the street probably looks up to many of us because of our perceived wealth and perceived worldliness and knowledge.

[BigMoneyBruce]

well to be honest. I don,t think I would enjoy living here with out the support of my wife and family. I find it a little tiring to keep up a long conversation with most Filipinos as their English and my Visayan are very week. Maybe if I had some foreigners to hang out with it would be ok. Every once in a while i will run into a Filipino who can speak English pretty good. They sure are the friendliest people I have ever met. It sure is interesting learning all about their culture, Although I wonder some times why they do some things the way they do them. They sure have taught me a lot about taking care of each other and their networking is amazing. But something tells me if I did not have my wife and no decent woman to replace her, I would be a little lonely here.I have Filipino friends but the closeness is not there because of the language.

It seems to me as you are not quite happy in your daily life living in PI. I tjink you should do some reflection and make of list of things that you would like to do on a more regular basis and see out filipinos who have those interests. Yes coming from another culture can have a lot of missed connections as far as a good long dialog is concerned but I think if you find people with similar interest this would be lessened. Also you could look into things that seem so popular in thier culture and learn the ones that you find interesting. Well I hope this feedback does not seem rude and best of luck.

[Old55]

well to be honest. I don,t think I would enjoy living here with out the support of my wife and family. I find it a little tiring to keep up a long conversation with most Filipinos as their English and my Visayan are very week. Maybe if I had some foreigners to hang out with it would be ok. Every once in a while i will run into a Filipino who can speak English pretty good. They sure are the friendliest people I have ever met. It sure is interesting learning all about their culture, Although I wonder some times why they do some things the way they do them. They sure have taught me a lot about taking care of each other and their networking is amazing. But something tells me if I did not have my wife and no decent woman to replace her, I would be a little lonely here.I have Filipino friends but the closeness is not there because of the language.

It seems to me as you are not quite happy in your daily life living in PI. I tjink you should do some reflection and make of list of things that you would like to do on a more regular basis and see out filipinos who have those interests. Yes coming from another culture can have a lot of missed connections as far as a good long dialog is concerned but I think if you find people with similar interest this would be lessened. Also you could look into things that seem so popular in thier culture and learn the ones that you find interesting. Well I hope this feedback does not seem rude and best of luck.

Great points Bruce.

[sjp52]

well to be honest. I don,t think I would enjoy living here with out the support of my wife and family. I find it a little tiring to keep up a long conversation with most Filipinos as their English and my Visayan are very week. Maybe if I had some foreigners to hang out with it would be ok. Every once in a while i will run into a Filipino who can speak English pretty good. They sure are the friendliest people I have ever met. It sure is interesting learning all about their culture, Although I wonder some times why they do some things the way they do them. They sure have taught me a lot about taking care of each other and their networking is amazing. But something tells me if I did not have my wife and no decent woman to replace her, I would be a little lonely here.I have Filipino friends but the closeness is not there because of the language.

It seems to me as you are not quite happy in your daily life living in PI. I tjink you should do some reflection and make of list of things that you would like to do on a more regular basis and see out filipinos who have those interests. Yes coming from another culture can have a lot of missed connections as far as a good long dialog is concerned but I think if you find people with similar interest this would be lessened. Also you could look into things that seem so popular in thier culture and learn the ones that you find interesting. Well I hope this feedback does not seem rude and best of luck.

No Bruce not rude at all. I don,t live full time in the Philippines. I am back and forth from Canada. I will decide where to retire once my wife has her Canadian citizenship in 4 years. I expresses my feelings on the subject hoping to get some feelings of other foreigners on the subject. I love to visit different places here in the Philippines but the every day life here is not the same as back home. Its has been very interesting so far but I wonder down the road when the excitement of the new place wears off if this will be my final destination or not.

[Mr Lee]

well to be honest. I don,t think I would enjoy living here with out the support of my wife and family. I find it a little tiring to keep up a long conversation with most Filipinos as their English and my Visayan are very week. Maybe if I had some foreigners to hang out with it would be ok. Every once in a while i will run into a Filipino who can speak English pretty good. They sure are the friendliest people I have ever met. It sure is interesting learning all about their culture, Although I wonder some times why they do some things the way they do them. They sure have taught me a lot about taking care of each other and their networking is amazing. But something tells me if I did not have my wife and no decent woman to replace her, I would be a little lonely here.I have Filipino friends but the closeness is not there because of the language.

It seems to me as you are not quite happy in your daily life living in PI. I tjink you should do some reflection and make of list of things that you would like to do on a more regular basis and see out filipinos who have those interests. Yes coming from another culture can have a lot of missed connections as far as a good long dialog is concerned but I think if you find people with similar interest this would be lessened. Also you could look into things that seem so popular in thier culture and learn the ones that you find interesting. Well I hope this feedback does not seem rude and best of luck.

No Bruce not rude at all. I don,t live full time in the Philippines. I am back and forth from Canada. I will decide where to retire once my wife has her Canadian citizenship in 4 years. I expresses my feelings on the subject hoping to get some feelings of other foreigners on the subject. I love to visit different places here in the Philippines but the every day life here is not the same as back home. Its has been very interesting so far but I wonder down the road when the excitement of the new place wears off if this will be my final destination or not.

It has always been my feelings that we have to have hobbies to keep us busy once retired and that would apply to no matter where we end up living during our retirement years. There may be a limit to some of the hobbies that one can do since we are restricted by law, for instance I love to shoot but would have to go with my wife and with her gun or guns to stay within the law, so to me that hobby will not fill as much time while living in the PHL as it does while we live in the US.One hobby that I can highly recommend to members is Amateur Radio service because with today's technology you might not even need much more than a computer to speak to people all over the world on one of the few computer programs available to Hams as they are called and that can be a very rewarding hobby because it allows one to make many friends worldwide and many Hams are willing to show other Hams around if they visit their countries and towns, so that alone could fill the day but would have to be started back in our own home countries and then applying for reciprocal licensing if we wish to use radios while living in the PHL.Next of course is computers and forums and helping others to have the life that we have been lucky enough to have achieved, so guys and gals, if you want to be happy in life and especially in retirement, then you have to keep busy with one form of hobby or another IMO.

[Mugs]

If did not have your wife or girlfriend and woman were the same in Philippines as they are in the west. Would you still want to live in the Philippines ?

no i would not move there. sorry i added to it so my opinion would not be deleted. Edited January 8, 2012 by Mugs

[i am bob]

I have always wanted to live somewhere exciting.... When I was a teen, I wanted to move from Canada to Australia... My sister wanted to join the army... I ended up in the armed forces and she moved to Australia the same year... lol! While in the service, I spent 2 fantastic years in Germany but I really don't want to go back to Europe... Too expensive among many other reasons... I have looked at moving to Costa Rica but it is going up in $ and is getting more restrictive... Belize sounded good for a while but then I started to look more at the Philippines... Talked to a lot of people who were originally from or have visited the Philippines... And fell in love with the Philippines.... !!! Though I haven't actually made the move yet (c'mon September! is my favourite phrase right now), I have met someone online who intrigues me quite nicely... ok, has me drooling and stumbling for words when we talk but I had already made the decision to make the big move before I even knew about her! So to make a long answer shorter....yes!!!and hopefully very soon! Bob

[Jake]

I have always wanted to live somewhere exciting.... When I was a teen, I wanted to move from Canada to Australia... My sister wanted to join the army... I ended up in the armed forces and she moved to Australia the same year... lol! While in the service, I spent 2 fantastic years in Germany but I really don't want to go back to Europe... Too expensive among many other reasons... I have looked at moving to Costa Rica but it is going up in $ and is getting more restrictive... Belize sounded good for a while but then I started to look more at the Philippines... Talked to a lot of people who were originally from or have visited the Philippines... And fell in love with the Philippines.... !!! Though I haven't actually made the move yet (c'mon September! is my favourite phrase right now), I have met someone online who intrigues me quite nicely... ok, has me drooling and stumbling for words when we talk but I had already made the decision to make the big move before I even knew about her! So to make a long answer shorter....yes!!!and hopefully very soon!Bob

Travelling all over the Far East as a former US sailor, I found my best port visits has always beenthe land of "brown sugar". OK, I'm a little prejudice since Philippines is my native land. Anyway, you have several more months before you make the big move in September. May I suggestthat you do some homework -- maybe this for starters: http://www.philippin...dpost__p__46901Good one Bob -- Jake

[i am bob]

I have always wanted to live somewhere exciting.... When I was a teen, I wanted to move from Canada to Australia... My sister wanted to join the army... I ended up in the armed forces and she moved to Australia the same year... lol! While in the service, I spent 2 fantastic years in Germany but I really don't want to go back to Europe... Too expensive among many other reasons... I have looked at moving to Costa Rica but it is going up in $ and is getting more restrictive... Belize sounded good for a while but then I started to look more at the Philippines... Talked to a lot of people who were originally from or have visited the Philippines... And fell in love with the Philippines.... !!! Though I haven't actually made the move yet (c'mon September! is my favourite phrase right now), I have met someone online who intrigues me quite nicely... ok, has me drooling and stumbling for words when we talk but I had already made the decision to make the big move before I even knew about her! So to make a long answer shorter....yes!!!and hopefully very soon!Bob

Travelling all over the Far East as a former US sailor, I found my best port visits has always beenthe land of "brown sugar". OK, I'm a little prejudice since Philippines is my native land. Anyway, you have several more months before you make the big move in September. May I suggestthat you do some homework -- maybe this for starters: http://www.philippin...dpost__p__46901Good one Bob -- Jake

Thanks again Jake!I have to admit - I did find her on a site (initials of site are JR) where I had written to and passed on several women. With this one young lady, I was looking for only a pen pal as there is a very big age difference between us. Is she the one scamming me? Not even close! I hinted about sending a little to help out her and the family and I got a "No but thank you!"... I know she has no money (same for her mom - dad has passed on) but she is proud and doesn't want anything but our friendship to grow and see where we end up. Notice I did say somewhere that I would have to wait and see how things turned out! And I do have the personal experience of growing up in Niagara Falls so I think I have learned every scam there is in the book - haven't seen any new ones lately at all! Thank God!!!Now, as I am getting off topic here, if anyone is interested, Jake referred me to a great post on this site about Internet Dating and Scammers found there.... See above for the link.Bob