Which Island / Province Should I Choose?

There are 7641  Islands to choose from! So, which island should I choose? That is the obvious question you are asking, right?

Only 1000+ islands are actually inhabited with a somewhat intact Infrastructure. So now the search is a bit easier, or is it?

 

Another very important aspect of this is also:

Are you going to spend just a few weeks or months at a time here, OR do you want to move here permanently for good? ( or at least for many years )

This question is not easy to answer, since YOU have to ask yourself some questions 1st.

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• Let’s start with WERE have you spent most of your life?
• Is it, or was it just one country in the countryside, or a big city? Or did you spend months, or even years in other cities and or countries?

 

 

You may ask: Why is important? Ever hear the saying:

 

IT IS NOT IMPORTANT WHERE YOU ARE FROM, IT IS ONLY IMPORTANT WHERE YOU WANT TO GO!

Well, that is very true, but in this case, I want to make an exception and say this. If all your life you have lived in ONE country/City, then I would assume that you have not traveled at all, or not a lot. This just means that you are used to your culture and that way of life! The importance of which island I should choose is very often neglected or ignored by most people.

 

• Adapting (or trying to adapt) to the Filipino way of life ( which also differs a lot depending on where you are/live in the Philippines-City OR Province) is then not going to be that easy. You might want to consider only spending several months (at least 4-6)  here, before finalizing moving here. Personally, I never could

  

  adapt to this Filipino way of life in 9 years, and that is why I decided to leave! More on this later.

 

• You might also ASK yourself: What is The Filipino Way Of Life ??? Well, that is very difficult to answer, but for now, it’s this: It is a DAILY survival. To provide to the 3-15 children daily, without any Government help, or let us say VERY minimal Government help.

 

Most (not all) FOREIGNERS who come to the Philippines to LIVE on a somewhat permanent basis, leave this country usually after about 2-4 years!

Some of course leave sooner, and some, like me, stay longer. Another few, depending on the CITY, will never leave and call this their permanent HOME. The reason’s I will get into in another POST, which, when ready I’ll put a link HERE.

 

• So let’s just assume, (and I do not really want to assume anything here), but let’s assume that you are from the countryside, meaning you grew up on a farm, or a suburban setting, or a small town, etc., and do NOT like BIG Cities, like LA, NYC, Miami, London, Rome, etc.
• This means that Manila, Cebu, or even Davao will not be of interest to you.
• Too many people, it’s really like ants crawling everywhere and completely out of control TRAFFIC with NO traffic enforcement, which makes driving a bit crazy.
• Davao is a bit better since, in this City, one of few, they actually enforce traffic rules.
  

 

• A small town/city will be something you are more likely to settle down in, and there are plenty to

  

  choose from. Always appealing to most folks who come from COLD places, are BEACH FRONT properties.

• Living on or really close to the beach is very affordable in the Philippines. At least compared to many other countries. The downside is the STORMS and the salty air from the ocean pretty much destroy all kinds of “NICE” or expensive things, like electronics, TV, etc. Please keep this in mind.

 

 

Let us just recap for a moment, since YOU will most likely NOT choose the place or island on your own! This decision will be made for you. Or at least for the majority of you, including ME! This is really simple to explain.

• Most of us have never been here, so our 1st contact is someone, you have met ONLINE, right? Well, not in my case, but 8/9 out of 10 guys I met and talked to personally, ended up LIVING where they met their online chat/girl/boy/girlfriend, etc. This is true about 85-90% of the time.

 

MOST of us have absolutely NO CLUE what we are getting ourselves into, or at least we THINK we do, but we really don’t! We have no idea about what LIFE in the Philippines is all about, but for most of us, it is a NEW way to continue our lives.

With a NEW partner, that not only is much younger than the last one but is also very pretty, very friendly  ( at least in the beginning…) and NEEDS our help. Since most people want to HELP others, it is easy to understand why we do what we do. Most Philippine girls/women do not know how to say: NO! Unlike most girls in Manila!

 

Many of them will say, No. So meeting a fairly young (age 20-35)  educated attractive WOMAN (not a girl) in Manila, if you are over 50 or older, is basically NOT likely, just because most of them KNOW what YOU want. So if you are willing to pay for certain “Services”, well then its NO Problem to find young and attractive girls, all over the Philippines, or actually all over the world.

 

• So here is a perfect example to understand the difference between Metro Manila, and Province girls. Some years ago, I walked into a Watson’s, ( in Butuan City) which is like an Eckerd, a Drugstore/Pharmacy. I asked these 2 young girls who worked there for an item. To make this short, when I was just about to walk out, I gave them some ADVICE and said:                                                                                 

Do Not Get Pregnant! Their answer: That is God’s will !!!

When I gave the same advice to 2 young girls in Manila, their answer was: NO Way !!!

 

No further comment on this subject at this point.

 

 

• If I may say this at this point: Where ever you are born, this country or that city, and you have never been anywhere, then everything is “normal” for you, since YOU got used to that. As it is for most of us, depending on where we are from.
• Since I have lived in so many different countries and cities, I thought I could also live in the Philippines.
• Well, I did, for almost 9 years, but eventually, I understood that I am only TOLERATED here.

 

• As One guy wrote in one of his posts on Quora: NEVER argue with a Pino! Even if you are right, YOU are still WRONG in their eyes and will be attacked, at least verbally, since you are NOT one of them, and you will NEVER be one of them. I don’t mean that you will never be a PINO, oh no.
• What I mean is they will never LOOK at you as a human being, only the foreigner who took their GIRL and has Millions to give to others. LOL. The funny thing is, that all, or most Filipinos are dreaming of that Greener pasture, we come from.

 

WE (the Foreigners) come here for obvious reasons like Warmer Climate, Cheaper Living Costs, Young Beautiful Girls, Beautiful Green Areas and LOTS of trees, OCEAN Sports etc. Basically its like Paradise…at least in the beginning.

THEY ( Filipinos) want to LEAVE this place for ONLY ONE REASON: Money!

 

Back to WHAT ISLAND / PROVINCE SHOULD I CHOOSE?

• I did have to go out of my way to WRITE/TALK about all those issues which I mentioned above, for you to understand, that you are NOT just MOVING to another city or country, but to a whole different world, that has pretty much nothing to do with the way of life you KNOW or are used to. UNLESS you have lived here before and just LOVE this place. Hopefully for the right reasons. Even IF you think that they speak English here, and many do, the majority do not comprehend meaningful /intellectual English.

 

• So lets talk about these different Islands.
• In the north you have the Island of LUZON, where Metro Manila is the center of power and anything is available, and I mean ANYTHING is for SALE, or has a price tag. If its material things or people, anybody and anything can be bought.

Living in Metro Manila is not as crazy as you think, and IF you are a CITY PERSON, than there are only 2 cities you can really LIVE IN as a foreigner, and that is Manila or Cebu. Just FORGET about the rest. There is nothing else. Only in these 2 cities, but more so only in Manila, you can get the “normal” things that we are used to, like real BREAD, or real cheese, or just go out and eat a real STEAK!

 

The best and nicest areas in Manila are:

• BGC, which stands for  Bonifacio Global City. This place which is next to Makati has the best Infrastructure and actual Urban planning. There are Parks and walkways and SIDEWALKS without any obstruction on them. Traffic laws are STRICTLY implemented, unlike in most other parts of Manila. Here you have NO Noise from Roosters or loud jeepneys.

 

• You also have HIGH STREET, which reminds me of Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. There are No

  

  Cars allowed and you can actually walk and enjoy all kinds of different restaurants, coffee shops, and clothing stores like Old Navy. Here, DOGS are allowed and you will see more dogs than kids in BGC, which is very different from the rest of the country.

 

Expensive but really nice, and well build Apartment Buildings are built here, (at least some) with power lines, etc. are hidden in the GROUND, which makes it a lot nicer, safer, and more reliable when the storm hit.

Well, that’s BGC, probably the trendiest part of Manila, and it’s now the NEW place where people not only LIVE, but also work, and party!

A normal commute, for most people, due to the horrendous traffic, is 2 hours to work, and another 2 hours to get home! Now, some try to avoid that, by living and working in BGC. This lifestyle is of course not for Filipinos who have “normal” wages, but for the ones who have above average Salaries! These are probably the 0,1 -1 %  of the population.

You will see many foreigners here since you will find everything that you need for your daily life here. When I first saw BGC, I thought I am somewhere in the US. No garbage anywhere, nice restaurants,  sidewalks, etc. Now it is even better, with all kinds of amenities, so you really do not have to leave this area, other than If you have to go to the Airport or an Embassy.

 

Other nice areas of Manila, and there are a few more, are places like ROCKWELL, CUBAO, and MAKATI CITY. Just depends IF you have some kind of work or office in any one of these cities, which are all part of Metro Manila.

Makati has most of the Embassies but is overbuilt, overcrowded, and way too much cement, so very few green areas.

ROCKWELL is next or actually is part of Makati, but it has its own, how would I say…STYLE. It is very very clean has its own Guards who are on every intersection and living here is very expensive, especially the rents. But it is really SAFE and has some nice stores, and one of the best features is probably that SANTIS DELI is right there! They have all kinds of great imported foods!

 

Last But Not Least:

• You, the foreigner can NOT BUY land here in the Philippines. The exception to this is as follows, but I am not sure. Ex US-military personnel can buy land up to 1000m2. Any other National CAN NOT BUY land in this country. Of course, there is ALWAYS away, but it will cost you a lot.

Filipinos can buy land, houses, and anything else, pretty much anywhere ( Exceptions are the rule here) but, ONLY with real money. The Philippine Peso has NO value outside this country.

 

So WHY is that you might ask? Well now we will get into Politics AGAIN, but I won’t at this point.

 

• So IF you can NOT BUY land in YOUR NAME, and it has to be a Pino, then you better TRUST that person, otherwise just do not buy land. I did, but I was LUCKY, which you need sometimes in Life! And YES, a CONDO you can buy in your name. The problem is, WHY live in a CONDO with 7600+ Islands?

 

• You can also not start your own business here! Or, Not as easy as you think.
• The Philippines have far more RED TAPE than most other countries, and I am willing to say that it just might be THE MOST difficult country in the world, to start your own business. Chinese on the other hand basically OWN this entire country.
• The two biggest shopping malls and Cebu Pacific (and plenty more…) are owned by Chinese/Pino families, or how else were they able to build these MEGA MALLS all over different islands in a 3rd world country?

 

• If you think for one minute (which I did) that you can start any business here because there are so many things lacking…
• THINK again to WHY things are the way they are NOW!? There is a reason WHY Dynasty families RULE and CONTROL this entire country their way!

 

• To come here, which I did, and think that I could start a business and make money, NO WAY JOSE! And YES, a few made it especially in Manila/ Cebu or Davao, since they either had LOTS of CONNECTIONS and MONEY or even better BOTH! Otherwise forget about doing anything here, other than spending your money and enjoying Life.

 

So when it comes to ” which island I should choose” PLEASE CHOOSE your ISLAND/Province and CITY very very carefully, do NOT invest in anything here, except for food and rent an apartment. If you are still in LOVE with your girlfriend/city after ONE year, then consider staying longer, just don’t build a house, as I did. You will LOSE money IF you decide to SELL it.

 

GOOD LUCK on your journey in this Paradise…full of Crocodiles…and IF you are wondering what I mean by: full of Crocodiles, then please understand that the ISLANDS created by the cosmos/universe/god or whatever you believe in…are AMAZING (like so many others). All the best when it comes to: which island should I choose…

BUT as usual, PEOPLE have destroyed nature and due to an utterly and still completely CORRUPT Government that does NOT SERVE the people, but mostly themselves, it will take many generations to be a beautiful country again!

Drop me a line, if you have a question or two!

Thanks!

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