What are you doing in Philippines?

[hilyfe 1,279]

I hope I didnt step in an any toes on here

Im just curious that is all

ANd why cebu? Hahahha curious

[USMC-Retired 10,995]

You do not bother me. Three years ago I loved this place. I thought how great. When the error occured I was like no problem just fix it. Days became weeks became months became years. Some problems along the way were my fault yet if I could have left the outcome would be diffrent.

 

The Philippines is a great place as long as you ask nothing from them. Do not expect anything more then what is shown on the surface and plan for less. If you have a problem no matter who created it your on your own to solve it. Do not expect people to know how or even assist you along the way. It is the true wild west in many ways.

 

You can live in a bubble and just never venture out and you will be fine. Yet most choose to have some interaction. Thus you must what if it. Another member married legally here yet she can not join him in Australia. That was not on his what if plan. A corrupt indivdual or red tape both which happen a lot will stop your forward progress.

 

When you are presented choices you can sour on one or the other. Today for me the one choice is spoiled and the other looks better. If someone is negative I ask what they are doing about it. If they say nothing well then they just want to be like that. I may arrive in the US and realize how good I had it here or I may love it. Yet I will risk either out come. I will leave my comfort zone. Many are just happy bitching in their comfort zone.

 

[Headshot 29,349]

Being bitchy and mean is part of the plan.  An attempt to die with your boots on.

I'd rather get shot and die in the Philippines than live hurting and bored in a nursing home stateside. 

 

Geez...

I hope there's a third choice. Neither of those choices sound good to me.

[Headshot 29,349]

I just got home from a day of scuba diving up in San Remigio, and right now I am feeling very good about my choice to live here. There are downsides to living anywhere, and there are plenty of downsides here. However, at least for me, there are a lot more positives than there are negatives. My wife is from Cebu, so that is primarily why we live here on Cebu. The longer I live here, the happier I am with the decision to live where we do.

[SKYCHASEN2 0]

Most of the things folks complain about here in the Phils bother me too but I would much rather deal with crowing roosters and A holes playing loud music at seemingly odd hours than go back to the good ole USA and its problems. Like many here I found true bliss and love in a beautiful Filipina. I am the product of 3 failed marriages and after going through that heartache I finally realised what one gent said here, there are no more family oriented women in the USA. So that brought me to where I am, a happy retired old guy with a drop dead gorgeous wife living modestly and completely happy.

 

There will always be complainers no matter where you go. Some people thrive on being negative, it's a habit.

[SomeRandomGuy 6,596]

out of about 365 days a year in this country  i ask myself what i am doing here  about 50 of them.....  just some times thing are my fault  like expecting to much from people   having guys stare and leer at my gf    

Having some guy that has been living here  half as long as I have try to give me advice   

being told i need to learn to speak the language and then after i do show i speak ok visayan looked at  as a cheap charlie  because i dont want to pay double sometimes tripple of what a thing actually costs.

 

dickheads and idiots have always been my down fall     and i seem to run into them no matter where i am.

 

about 315 days a year  i am so happy here it is not funny      i live cheap   food is so fresh  it is amazing  and even though quiet often  i can see thru some of the fake on the surface smiles  it is still nice to get them.

 

i am much happier  in negros then i was in cebu     but that is also a lot to do with the area i was living in cebu....lots of crime and what not 

 

i do find it a pain here  when u get off  a bus  or ferry    that someone  wants to hassle u  the momment u get off.....       ( im just bringing this up   as it happened today after a long bus trip  and i was sort of half asleep  when a dude grabbed my bag and started putting it on his trike)

 

people here  are strange sometimes....  i often shake my head   but when i look around  i am the only one shaking my head   so i am obviously the odd one out....atleast i used to think this  until i got friends with a few upper class  filipino's      now i know  i am not the only one.

 

but in all things said and done  i have  a lovely partner here    nice cheap brand new house i pay a song a month for     great food    sometimes  great company  ( though so many of my mates have left here  as they were sick and tired of the bs)       so far  ive been 5 years here   and though i do often wonder why i am here   i havent  booked a flight back home yet   so maybe  its just the whole  good and bad day scenario      or maybe   its just  every now and then things  just piss u off           lol i asked a woman  today here   if she lived in australia for 5 years    and she was called a forienger  every day for 5 years   would she like it

 

guess what the answer was    

 

maybe i am ranting

[hilyfe 1,279]

Hi guys thanx for replying

I like reading your comments here

And fo4 foreigners like you guys

Are also helping the philippines economy

any funny experiences would also be great to add lolz

 

like the first time I ride a bangka

Wanted to sit at the front

Not knowing its one the place to avoid from the ocean spray lol

ANd how I face planted on the sand getting off that darn thing

FIrst time tried to eat balut

 

have you guys tried that balut

Cant eat that thing it smells really bad

[goldote 250]

Geez...

I hope there's a third choice. Neither of those choices sound good to me.

 

I love it too....and don't really bitch much for my age. 

Does life ever end well? 

There is hope.  They're doing head transplants. 

[Contango 659]

What am i doing in the Philippines?

 

I'm not there yet, not full time anyway but i know i have ploughed 2 million pesos into it...so one day in the future i will be "in the Philippines" and i will be there because.

• I can love a beautiful younger woman
• I can live reasonably cheaply
• I can have some degree of control over my future
• I can be happy

In Australia my life consists of going to work and paying the bills...in the PR people call me sir and say hello to me, ask me what i want and how i feel (even if they don't give a feck) they still go thru the motions of being polite and respectful...and that is something that never gets old. Edited July 20, 2013 by Contango

[Alan S 4,607]

What are you doing in Philippines?

 

I'm not there right now, but was for a couple of years plus made nearly 50 trips there over the years.

 

I was lucky, that was all for work, so I was paid to go there.

I managed to do some internal travel and see some of the Philippines, (although there are lots of places I would still like to visit).

Perhaps not surprisingly, I fell in love with the country and the people.

 

That doesnt mean that I am blind to the faults. Even if one is, there are plenty of locals who will point them out to you when you get to know them.

 

The sad thing is that the country has so many advantages that could make it far more prosperous and give people a much higher standard of living.

It could, for example be a prime tourist destination.

Instead it lags behind other countries with many people barely surviving.

 

Will I get back there?

I had hoped to be there well before now, but serious health issues prevented it.

 

With luck, I will get back there again, even if only for an extended visit.

Subject to the aforesaid health issues.

[USMC-Retired 10,995]

The good thing about this forum is you get these varied responses. You get the awesome, good, bad and ugly. However the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think reviewing everything will give you a better chance of success.

[Irenicus 8,248]

Very good thread.

 

Thanks to all who threw in.

[sperry 557]

What am I doing? Mostly turning up my amplifier so that it goes thump thump! But seriously!

 

Cebubird. Sound proof your bedroom and double glaze the windows.

 

I'm seriously thinking of starting a soundproofing company. It really seems to be something with a lot demand here.

 

that would be a very good idea.

 

rememebr to post a link to your company website here

[hilyfe 1,279]

Hilyfe this forum is for sharing information about the Philippines both good and bad. There are plenty of both on here. It also provides a means for many to vent their frustrations about a society where most foreigners are at some time in their stay here, marginalized and taken advantage of because of their skin color. You may not have that experience since you can blend in with the locals so you're luckier than most.

 

Would you really want this forum to be everyone all cheery and high fiving each other about how "swell" the Philippiines is and it's all rainbows and unicorns? No...forums aren't for that. And besides, no matter where you go in this world there will be problems and issues people need to be made aware of. For example, I lived in Hawaii for 6 years during my Navy years and loved many things about it. But it was also a very racist society especially when you got outside of the touristy areas and the fake "Aloha smiles". Many locals just don't like the Haoles. I grew up in the deep south, traveled all over the world and the only place I was ever racially attacked because of my skin was in Hawaii. But you probably also don't have that experience as you can blend in there as well. Shit dude....you really ARE lucky.  lol.

 

Lol youre so right about that haole part

I dont get it though

Why the locals DO NOT LIKE HAOLE

filipinos here locals or not they dont care

But the hawaiians man they do hate haoles

Edited July 21, 2013 by Headshot
Fixed quote

[miles-high 3,917]

What am I doing in Philippines?

 

 

I've been here almost 4 years and fortunately I am paid to be here…

 

I have been to almost all major cities of the Philippines with the exception of the areas west, southwest of Mindanao. I like to drive around the country as my work time is flexible. I have done Manila-Cebu, drove around the provinces of Cebu, Albay and southern Luzon. I plan to do more driving (or flying a Cessna) in coming months to Cebu again via the western route, to do the Luzon Loop and eventually drive some parts of Mindanao – have to pay serious attention to the weather patterns and political situation here for safe driving...

Did I fall in love with the country and the people? It’s hard to say but I do like the country and the people… My interaction with the people is limited, however and in this respect, I don’t see my life here is much different from my past life in the Midwest US (except my wife became my ex but that has nothing to do with the Filipinas, hehe ).

 

I may like to semi-retire soon (more play less work)…  and will I stay here? Probably, as I can continue to work under my current visa... and there is a nice Filipina I have been dating for the last 3 years or so...