Lifestyle Changes?

[joeatmanila]

Well, I was hoping for more hanging on the beach....but to be brutally honest, they were disgusting in Cebu. Not much soft sand to blanket down and the garbage was unbearable wading in the water. I've tried a few public pools, and the chlorine levels they use are not quite at proper levels to say the least....my eyes so red when I get out I have an urge to listen to Bob Marley songs. I guess they use so much because of the urine levels from the thousand kids. Let's just say that taking a vacation in Boracay is NOT like living in the Philippines as far as the pina colada lifestyle. Of course, if you do find that spot, you will be losing out on the conveniences of the city.... such as malls, western style food and cheap cabs. However, for me....it's been better then I expected being somebody who used to hang around in the wild subic bay during the navy era. I am getting used to the loudness, the 3 million people that live on my block all wanting to know me...I will never however get used to the garbage or the fact any foreigner I see not known to me I suspect is a perverted overage sex pat that exploits the poorness of the country to lure woman at best, pedo at worst. I feel far more comfortable in subic bay, where there are many retired military married. Once I return, I will need to get into a gated community and have strict orders of nobody allowed in unless I give a direct order saying it is ok, as the WORST aspect of the Philippines IMHO, BY FAR, is the wife/gf's family....that trade off of having a younger pretty caring old fashioned type woman is worth it if you are not hounded 20 times a day for a few pesos for an extended family that exceeds 500. It is no wonder I see pinays having nervous breakdowns from their own families, weather it's an OFW or foreigner relationship. The begging is amazing to witness from families. So, lifestyle change is avoiding the in laws, which come to think of it, was also something I attempted with my ex wife in the states.

If you are retired, want pristine and clean beaches, safe heaven, pure people, no sexpats scene then try Siquijor. Just across Dumagete. Does not offers luxuries and amenities of big cities but it is a paradise well kept out of reach of sexpats or party animals since no bars no girlie bars (i think there is only one for the entire island and that is right at the port of Larena, i might be wrong too). Edited August 19, 2010 by joeatmanila

[ekimswish]

Well, I was hoping for more hanging on the beach....but to be brutally honest, they were disgusting in Cebu. Not much soft sand to blanket down and the garbage was unbearable wading in the water. I've tried a few public pools, and the chlorine levels they use are not quite at proper levels to say the least....my eyes so red when I get out I have an urge to listen to Bob Marley songs. I guess they use so much because of the urine levels from the thousand kids. Let's just say that taking a vacation in Boracay is NOT like living in the Philippines as far as the pina colada lifestyle. Of course, if you do find that spot, you will be losing out on the conveniences of the city.... such as malls, western style food and cheap cabs. However, for me....it's been better then I expected being somebody who used to hang around in the wild subic bay during the navy era. I am getting used to the loudness, the 3 million people that live on my block all wanting to know me...I will never however get used to the garbage or the fact any foreigner I see not known to me I suspect is a perverted overage sex pat that exploits the poorness of the country to lure woman at best, pedo at worst. I feel far more comfortable in subic bay, where there are many retired military married. Once I return, I will need to get into a gated community and have strict orders of nobody allowed in unless I give a direct order saying it is ok, as the WORST aspect of the Philippines IMHO, BY FAR, is the wife/gf's family....that trade off of having a younger pretty caring old fashioned type woman is worth it if you are not hounded 20 times a day for a few pesos for an extended family that exceeds 500. It is no wonder I see pinays having nervous breakdowns from their own families, weather it's an OFW or foreigner relationship. The begging is amazing to witness from families. So, lifestyle change is avoiding the in laws, which come to think of it, was also something I attempted with my ex wife in the states.

That's kind of got me wondering why so many people (especially on this forum) choose Cebu? I've never been, so I wouldn't know. I just assumed it was part big city like Manila, with nice beaches nearby. I've also heard that it's only the resort beaches that are nice, and the regular ones aren't. I've been to Subiq, and although I had a crappy time dragging along extended family, the place seemed nice, even if a tad expensive. Personally, I hate malls, but love the movie theaters! lol.. The Philippines seems to be the last place on earth with giant, comfortable, theaters at a cheap ticket price. But living in the city is a drain on my funds because we always end up at a mall eating restaurant food at Western prices, but with a Philippine sized family to pay for! The extended family/friends thing is a constant learning curve.

[Jake]

"The extended family/friends thing is a constant learning curve"Hey Ekimswish,Talk about a change in lifestyle. I believe we all went through this learning curve. Some are steeper than others and some of us didn't learn at all and failed in the process.I was born in Olongapo City, just outside the formal US Subic Bay Naval Base. When my father got orders back to PI, I went through an exciting learning curve of my own. As a very young teenager, I learned the facts of life being exposed to all the sights and smell of bars and night clubs, including the shock and awe of the raunchy floor shows.I also learned about the abject poverty and its ramification to force many poor family members to find a "livelihood" that most of us would never, ever think about doing. From the eyes of the Filipino who suddenly lost everything and still need to provide food on the table, some had to resort in selling their own daughters just to survive.Talk about a change in lifestyle..... Respectfully -- Jake

[ekimswish]

"The extended family/friends thing is a constant learning curve"Hey Ekimswish,Talk about a change in lifestyle. I believe we all went through this learning curve. Some are steeper than others and some of us didn't learn at all and failed in the process.I was born in Olongapo City, just outside the formal US Subic Bay Naval Base. When my father got orders back to PI, I went through an exciting learning curve of my own. As a very young teenager, I learned the facts of life being exposed to all the sights and smell of bars and night clubs, including the shock and awe of the raunchy floor shows.I also learned about the abject poverty and its ramification to force many poor family members to find a "livelihood" that most of us would never, ever think about doing. From the eyes of the Filipino who suddenly lost everything and still need to provide food on the table, some had to resort in selling their own daughters just to survive.Talk about a change in lifestyle..... Respectfully -- Jake

In reference to the shock and awe of the bar scene, I would've loved your childhood , lol... Mine was spent in shock and awe of crazy Pentecostals in church.When I think of our upcoming move to the Philippines the first thing on my mind is making our business successful so we can support ourselves and settle in. Then I think of sports; and after that I think of giving people a hand. If helping people is solely about money, though, I'll never be that big of a help to anyone. The same people that were struggling before I arrive will be the same people struggling a week after I give them a thousand pesos. Only I don't have that many thousand peso notes to give out. You need a thick skin in the Philippines because there are times when someone related to someone you know or employ will need help, and you could help them and save their life, but you don't and let them die. You don't not help because you're greedy, but because the same situation will repeat itself next month, and somewhere along the way you need to save money for your own children. So letting people die when you could possibly save them is something Westerners aren't used to. At least in Canada the health care is universal, so you're never put in that position; and in America you would need a hundred K just to put a dent in the medical bill. Sure, you could help the odd person, and there's no reason not to. But since money - especially my money - is un-limitless, and I want to help people, I have to find another way to do it. One fantasy I have is just to start small businesses and employ people. It's as simple as that: creating jobs. Maybe if the employee saves his money he can buy the business from me down the road. The other idea is to volunteer with the local schools, and help with English education and/or coach basketball. I've also thought of arranging a sponsorship program to help school children with supplies, food, or dental hygene. Maybe we could let the local school farm some vegetables or raise some pigs on our land so they can feed the kids or sell them for books. (note: not sell the children for books, but the food). I don't know if any of that will ever happen. They're just some things I think of when I wonder what I'll do with the rest of my life, particularly if it's in the Philippines. I realize that if our business is successful and we come into some not bad money, people could resent us for it. So to stay in the good graces of the people, charitable work couldn't hurt as much as it'd help. Having three daughters (one step-daughter) myself, the last thing I'd ever want is for someone close to me to have to sell theirs into prostitution. Edited August 19, 2010 by ekimswish

[Mr Lee]

Well, I was hoping for more hanging on the beach....but to be brutally honest, they were disgusting in Cebu. Not much soft sand to blanket down and the garbage was unbearable wading in the water. I've tried a few public pools, and the chlorine levels they use are not quite at proper levels to say the least....my eyes so red when I get out I have an urge to listen to Bob Marley songs. I guess they use so much because of the urine levels from the thousand kids. Let's just say that taking a vacation in Boracay is NOT like living in the Philippines as far as the pina colada lifestyle. Of course, if you do find that spot, you will be losing out on the conveniences of the city.... such as malls, western style food and cheap cabs. However, for me....it's been better then I expected being somebody who used to hang around in the wild subic bay during the navy era. I am getting used to the loudness, the 3 million people that live on my block all wanting to know me...I will never however get used to the garbage or the fact any foreigner I see not known to me I suspect is a perverted overage sex pat that exploits the poorness of the country to lure woman at best, pedo at worst. I feel far more comfortable in subic bay, where there are many retired military married. Once I return, I will need to get into a gated community and have strict orders of nobody allowed in unless I give a direct order saying it is ok, as the WORST aspect of the Philippines IMHO, BY FAR, is the wife/gf's family....that trade off of having a younger pretty caring old fashioned type woman is worth it if you are not hounded 20 times a day for a few pesos for an extended family that exceeds 500. It is no wonder I see pinays having nervous breakdowns from their own families, weather it's an OFW or foreigner relationship. The begging is amazing to witness from families. So, lifestyle change is avoiding the in laws, which come to think of it, was also something I attempted with my ex wife in the states.

That's kind of got me wondering why so many people (especially on this forum) choose Cebu? I've never been, so I wouldn't know. I just assumed it was part big city like Manila, with nice beaches nearby. I've also heard that it's only the resort beaches that are nice, and the regular ones aren't. I've been to Subiq, and although I had a crappy time dragging along extended family, the place seemed nice, even if a tad expensive. Personally, I hate malls, but love the movie theaters! lol.. The Philippines seems to be the last place on earth with giant, comfortable, theaters at a cheap ticket price. But living in the city is a drain on my funds because we always end up at a mall eating restaurant food at Western prices, but with a Philippine sized family to pay for! The extended family/friends thing is a constant learning curve.

I cannot speak for others but my wife and I picked Cebu because our favorite place Cagayan de Oro did not have any condos, there was no international airport and no great places to shop at the time but a lot has changed since then and an international airport is also being built from what I have been told. We still love CDO and may someday end up there, when and if the time comes for us to move to the Philippines full time, but not until the power problem in Mindanao is solved.As for Manila (Luzon), we also loved the Makati area but even PNP friends of mine who joined us while walking around seemed to have the feeling that the place is very dangerous to walk around and I have always found that the people in the know happen to know more than the average person about what is actually going on and that never seems to make it to the news. The other thing was the pollution was hard to take for me in and around Manila, but out in San Pablo Luguna I found the air to be cleaner and life more laid back and we could have easily moved there had they only had taxis.So I guess we all have different wants and needs and have to find a place that suits most of them for us to be happy. Malls were an important part for me to keep active because I love to walk and eat out, and walking in an aircon place is much preferable to walking in the street, so we could have easily lived in or near Makati also but found Cebu's central location to be better for moving around the Philippines and since most of my wifes family is in Mindanao, being closer was preferable while not being too close for people to just drop in on us. :D  So to get myself back on topic, most of what we do while living in the Philippines including the climate has not really changed from our life in Florida, US, except we get to have different friends on both sides of the world and most of our friends in both places are either married couples, those in stable relationships or those who wish to be, so while I do not go out of my way to avoid the players, I just find that my wife and I gravitate toward spending more of our time with either Filipinos or those in similar lifestyles as us because we have much more in common with those groups of people. Anywhere a person lives can be all about what they make of life and I found that trying to change who we are and the things we like to do during our lives, would be very hard for me to do, so I prefer to enjoy most of the same hobbies and lifestyle because I am kind of set in my ways, yet my wife and I enjoy sitting out on our lanai in our Cebu condo so much that we have now been trying to duplicate that part of our life in Cebu here in Florida instead of the other way around. lol As for clean beaches in Cebu, my wife and I along with a friend joined member Mik and his family and we all went to a beach not too far from his home and found the water clean and enjoyable to swim in but not much of a sandy area to lie down on and instead picnic benches that people there rented to us where we had a picnic before and after we swam, so there are some nice beaches but one has to know where to look.

[love2winalot]

Hiya: For me the biggest changes are, No Football 3-4 days a week on TV. All the other changes i like better. I will walk back n forth to the bakery, 2 miles total, a few times a week early in the morning to buy Pandisol. We can buy fresher fish. That being, the fish is still flopping around on the table.......heheheIt takes longer to do things here, but if you are suppose to be retired, or semi retired, whats the hurry anyway? I can get American food at the Subic Duty Free. When i save up to buy a boat, it will be even better. The Internet is slower, but still acceptable. I learned a trick, that i need to download everything i can think of that i will need, while i am visiting back here in las Vegas, instead of doing it from the Morong Province. Also, I will make a list of things i need to download from within the Philippines, and will stop at our house in manilla, open the box with my PC in it, and download via cable internet, and pack up the PC again.The Philippines, for the most part, is a simple country. I am a simple person, and thus i fit right in, but more importantly, I accept Simple. I grew up with a well for water, a small creek to swim in, cutting grass with a swing blde, nailing a piece of plywood to a tree, and nailing the rim onto it as a basketball court, working in our garden using hand tools only, and so on. Morong is almost exactly like this. I have no proabelm at all, going for a walk, sweating, and just walking over to the well, filling a bucket of water, and just pouring it on me......................Weeeeeeeeeeeeee.For a lot of Expats, a lot of this would be and is, unacceptable. To me, it is like being a Kid all over again. And i know it is working, because my wife is constantly telling me to Grow Up.

[Jake]

Hiya: For me the biggest changes are, No Football 3-4 days a week on TV. All the other changes i like better. I will walk back n forth to the bakery, 2 miles total, a few times a week early in the morning to buy Pandisol. We can buy fresher fish. That being, the fish is still flopping around on the table.......heheheIt takes longer to do things here, but if you are suppose to be retired, or semi retired, whats the hurry anyway? I can get American food at the Subic Duty Free. When i save up to buy a boat, it will be even better. The Internet is slower, but still acceptable. I learned a trick, that i need to download everything i can think of that i will need, while i am visiting back here in las Vegas, instead of doing it from the Morong Province. Also, I will make a list of things i need to download from within the Philippines, and will stop at our house in manilla, open the box with my PC in it, and download via cable internet, and pack up the PC again.The Philippines, for the most part, is a simple country. I am a simple person, and thus i fit right in, but more importantly, I accept Simple. I grew up with a well for water, a small creek to swim in, cutting grass with a swing blde, nailing a piece of plywood to a tree, and nailing the rim onto it as a basketball court, working in our garden using hand tools only, and so on. Morong is almost exactly like this. I have no proabelm at all, going for a walk, sweating, and just walking over to the well, filling a bucket of water, and just pouring it on me......................Weeeeeeeeeeeeee.For a lot of Expats, a lot of this would be and is, unacceptable. To me, it is like being a Kid all over again. And i know it is working, because my wife is constantly telling me to Grow Up.

Hey thanks Love2winalot for the excellent suggestion, regarding making a list of needed downloads to a memory stick or another hard drive prior to departure for the PI.I hope to follow in your foot steps with this healthy attitude: "To me, it is like being a Kid all over again".I would like to feel younger at my age (60) by pursuing my sport hobbies and just chill out. Acquiring the pace of "island time" should be a great stress relief. I agree -- what's the hurry anyway?Using Google Earth, it looks like a pleasant walk down to Morong to get some pandesal. By walking thewalk, you apparently gained the mutual respect of the locals -- that you are harmless but also don't take any chit.Respectfully -- Jake