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Yes, I agree about Cagayan de Oro in Mindinao. I spent a month visiting my girlfriend's relatives there until they warned me that a kidnap gang was watching me. I retreated back to Cebu.
Spent my first and fourth years in Manila area. Hated it! I would choose the jungles of Bohol over Manila. Lived in Bohol for six months until the NPA started asking for their "revolutionary taxes" in the middle of a jungle path one day. I told them my "wife" had already paid the tax. Friendly bunch of folks with their AK 47s. They won't hurt foreigners though, especially an Americano.
There are now direct international flights in and out of Cebu. Can avoid Manila that way. Immigration is very corrupt there so be careful when visiting. I had one tried to "shake" me down in SM City mall one day in my eighth year. I had just returned from Thailand but my Filipino girlfriend put him in his place.
Still overall a nice place and affordable.
People in Cagayan de Oro DO STARE A LOT. But I think it's a very safe stare. They just don't get white foreigners. I remember some beggar kids approached me in Cagayan, and some locals quickly chastised them for bothering a foreign visitor, and telling them that Cagayan people don't do that to foreigners, they have more respect than that
I actually had similar situations in Davao as well.
All that being said, I think all things considered...CEBU is the most comfortable city in the Philippines with almost all of the amenities of Manila, and very few of the negatives/problems of Manila.
The only other city that comes close to that is DAVAO...which is almost equal with Cebu....but being that Cebu is in Visayas, you just have a ton of westerners crawling all over the place, which actually gives some comfort in some ways.
Whereas when I'm down in Davao, I'll get the 'look its a foreigner' thing here and there and everywhere, depending on how far off the main spots I go.
Thanks, Irmsd -- this is great information. I've spent time browsing various expat forums, and I hear what you're saying regarding the honeymoon phase etc. I've been in Oregon for over 12 years, and objectively, this is a wonderful place. I go through alternate phases of not believing how lucky I am to live here, and being bored because I've lived here for so long. In truth, I'd be content to spend the rest of my life here, if that's what fate has in store. However, I've dreamed of living in the tropics near the ocean since I was a kid, and my Hawaiian wife is very homesick, so Hawaii is our logical retirement choice, finances permitting. But we're both interested in SE Asia, and there might be opportunities for me to do management consulting and coaching there (as I've mentioned, I still have a decade of work ahead of me after my wife retires), so the area could well be part of our future. As for Bali, it's always intrigued me, and I definitely want to visit. Ideally, we'd like to make Hawaii our home base and travel to SE Asia.
fellows, just want to add my 2 cents. i traveled in 41 countries,
after traveling 6 mo on se asia i can say i personally love phuket and pattaya, thats where i will probably retire.
however, i met several us expats in lombok , next to bali
small but lovely island where, a few remerried indonesian
ladies and own houses
lot of us expats also all over thailand, the ones with
kids, some, claim kids are treated badly in thai school
and moved to malaysia that has higher schooling
standards
People in Cagayan de Oro DO STARE A LOT. But I think it's a very safe stare. They just don't get white foreigners. I remember some beggar kids approached me in Cagayan, and some locals quickly chastised them for bothering a foreign visitor, and telling them that Cagayan people don't do that to foreigners, they have more respect than that
I actually had similar situations in Davao as well.
All that being said, I think all things considered...CEBU is the most comfortable city in the Philippines with almost all of the amenities of Manila, and very few of the negatives/problems of Manila.
The only other city that comes close to that is DAVAO...which is almost equal with Cebu....but being that Cebu is in Visayas, you just have a ton of westerners crawling all over the place, which actually gives some comfort in some ways.
Whereas when I'm down in Davao, I'll get the 'look its a foreigner' thing here and there and everywhere, depending on how far off the main spots I go.
been to cebu, the town has no identity to me,
spent all day to try to find the beach to discover there
is no beach,
cebu has not a center, it has lots of night clubs, not a place to
retire, but boracay is the best spot in philippines
small bur paradise like beach place to spend one week
philippines us lor poorer than thailand
been to cebu, the town has no identity to me,
spent all day to try to find the beach to discover there
is no beach,
cebu has not a center, it has lots of night clubs, not a place to
retire, but boracay is the best spot in philippines
small bur paradise like beach place to spend one week
philippines us lor poorer than thailand
If you were in the nightclubs, than you must have been in a little confined red-light district which happens to have budget hotel listings in the lonely planet guide. Not a pleasant place. Not typical of all of Cebu by any means.
Mactan Island - where the resorts are, they have beaches available for daily use.
I always go to uptown Cebu and Luhag, which is quite a bit nicer. Cebu is a nice comfortable place once you get to know it better. Large air-conditioned malls and more variety of restaurants, etc.
Boracay is certainly the best, but I think would get dull to retire there - as you do need to have some other amenities than just a beautiful beach - certainly great for a week though!
If you were in the nightclubs, than you must have been in a little confined red-light district which happens to have budget hotel listings in the lonely planet guide. Not a pleasant place. Not typical of all of Cebu by any means.
Mactan Island - where the resorts are, they have beaches available for daily use.
I always go to uptown Cebu and Luhag, which is quite a bit nicer. Cebu is a nice comfortable place once you get to know it better. Large air-conditioned malls and more variety of restaurants, etc.
Boracay is certainly the best, but I think would get dull to retire there - as you do need to have some other amenities than just a beautiful beach - certainly great for a week though!
This is very true Tiger Beer. For a couple years I rented a nice 2 bedroom beach house just to the south of Cebu in Pooc, Talisay for only US $100. Getting in & out of the beach was a pain.
The problem was the main roads traffic jams at certain times of day. In my last year I owned a van rather than look for taxis or rent a car. First couple of years I used the jeepnies and mini-bus.
Mactan Island use to be hard to get to until they put in the second bridge. Last three years I lived only in uptown Cebu.
There are a couple of very small "bar" areas but that was not my scene. I preferred to drink with the local neighbors if I had a beer or rum & coke.
In some ways, the fast rate of changes in Thailand seems kind of sad, leaving behind a lot of nostalgia of how it used to be. But on the other hand, there's much more convenience available at local scales now than ever before. That said, there are still many, many areas around the country that haven't changed much. In the province of Saraburi there's been plenty of modernization, but our place is still located on a dusty, bumpy, winding, dirt road to get to it. Nearby houses are somewhat modern, but are not tightly packed together. It's pretty rural. We're seriously mulling over the idea of moving to Chiang Mai though because we really like it.
The rate of change is sadly true for me, too.
I've been to Luang Prabang, Lao and it's nice (like CM a decade or two ago) but still not as welcoming.
I can buy land there, but the entire city is more or less a World Heritage Site, so I'd have to be out of town anyway.
fellows, just want to add my 2 cents. i traveled in 41 countries,
after traveling 6 mo on se asia i can say i personally love phuket and pattaya, thats where i will probably retire.
So funny, I would never live in either Phuket or Pattaya.
They're my least favorite Thai cities.
Phuket town wasn't so bad, but the tourist beach areas drive me bonkers.
They assume that all expats want to live in KL, Penang, Melaka, Kucing or Kota Kinabalu, where plenty of choices exist in the high-end price range.
On this note, how are KL, Penang, Melaka, Kucing or Kota Kinabalu? Are there also choices in the lower-end price range? Or is that just not acceptable for foreigners to pay modest prices there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teak
Thanks for the compliment.
Certainly the Philippines and Indonesia are also cheap outside of Manila and Jakarta, respectively; but are they safer?? I doubt it. I have friends who live in both countries and they do not rave about those places.
I've spent a lot of time in the Philippines, and it's really only Manila and parts of Luzon that I don't feel safe. Manila in particular though.
The rest of the Philippines is wonderful. However, I also like the access to a lot more places you'd have in SG/KL/BKK, etc. Another city in the Philippines implies getting to Manila first before getting out, etc. It just doesn't seem as connected as somewhere near SG/KL/BKK might be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HonuMan
Although Singapore is very expensive and doesn't encourage retirees unless they're wealthy, the company I work for has an office there. I've let it be known that I'd happily accept a temporary assignment there, if our Asian business grows enough to warrant it, and my boss is supportive of the idea. Gone are the days of lucrative expat packages, replaced by what they call secondments (i.e., your basic expenses are covered)
I'd love to live in Singapore. If only it didn't cater to the wealthy. If even a small condo, I'd go for that, as SG has so much to offer once you step outside your door. I wouldn't need much living space there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by willzzz88
Honuman,
As an Asian-American originally from China I have to say that it's a trade-off between economic development/facilities versus cost of living. In economics usually as economic development increases the cost of living increases. Your US $ value in Asia will gradually decrease over time as Asia increases in it's wealth but also in its per capita income amongst other things. Personally if you want the easy life I'd do Malaysia, maybe one of the beach cities like Penang. English would be semi-widespread due to the British colonialism of Malaysia.
That's certainly one of my pulls to Malaysia. Not that I'm crazy about Malay culture in particular, but love that English is prevant and spoken by most. I also like the Chinese and Indian cultures that have made Malaysia home as well.
There are many places that have lower cost of living in Malaysia from outback in certain States like the East Coast - Terengganu, Kelantan or Pahang. Or those bordering thailand like Perlis and Kedah.
But if you wanna to live among with the "British" influcence, places are in the west coast where Kuala Lumpur, Penang,Johore Bahru and Ipoh.
Ipoh would be a good choice if you wanna a more affordable homes and cost of living there is lower though it offering modern lifestyle living. It is somewhat like Newark City to New York City. ( minus the crime rate factor). International moviestar - Michelle Yeoh is from here.
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