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American man and his wife killed in Dumaguete

Sadly, another American and his wife were killed in their own home at 4 a.m. last night. There have been so many incidents like this over the past few months that the Philippines these days reminds me of when I was living in retirement in Colombia.

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/336901/american-wife-killed-in-dumaguete-city/amp

Great food and very satisfying, except for the poor accessibility.

Humor..

My first time going to the Philippines

Hi, I'm planning to fly to Manila from Thailand and have a few questions.

1. Will I be safe? I've been to almost all of Southeast Asia except Brunei and Timor-Leste and felt perfectly safe everywhere. I've also lived in the US before, so I roughly know what feeling uncomfortable is like. But the Philippines looks pretty run-down, and it reminds me of somewhere in South America. I plan to shoot some content for my YouTube while I'm there, so I'm worried about my phone or other things getting stolen. I won't go into slum areas, I'll stick to tourist spots, and I might go up north to Vigan old town (a UNESCO site). What should I be careful about in the Philippines? Is kidnapping common too?

2. I'm not planning on island hopping or beaches at all; I'm more interested in cultural, natural and historical sites. Are there any non-beach destinations, attractions or cities I should look into? A beautiful seaside town or coastal city is fine if it's a must-see, but again, I'm not planning to hop on a small boat for a day trip (island hopping) like in Thailand.

3. I'm seriously considering 'Vigan old town' because it's a UNESCO site. But it isn't easy to get there from Manila. The quickest route seems to be flying from Manila to Laoag International Airport and then taking a bus or van for another 2 hours. So my questions are:
3.1 Is Vigan old town beautiful or memorable enough to be worth that long journey? If not, I can go somewhere else, which is why I asked for places in question 2.
3.2 At Laoag International Airport, can you book the ride-hailing app 'Grab' to get to Vigan old town? And the same for returning from Vigan old town to Laoag Airport?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and answer my questions. I hope you all have a good night 🌙

Where to next?

I asked the internet gods to make and rank a Top Ten list of places to visit in the Philippines 🇵🇭.

I was surprised to see Bohol at number 2.
I've never been….so it looks like that'll be our next trip.

What on earth is up with this STUPID, ENDLESS WIND?

It's been windy nonstop for over a month!! Absolutely ridiculous and awful for anything on the western side of the islands. I'd tell NOBODY to come here from JULY to OCTOBER.

This wind is relentless and annoying.

Globe says they can't send a tech to fix my internet until the 14th – any alternatives for internet or WiFi?

I was told there are ABSOLUTELY no technicians available to come fix my router until September 14th. All they could do was put a 'priority' label on my case number in the system so their management would see it and try to resolve it faster.

No fiber line issues, no late or unpaid bills, just the modem.

I'm even willing to switch providers if that's the best option, but isn't there a portable WiFi hotspot or router I could buy as a backup in the meantime? To be clear, I need something fast and stable. For lack of a better way to put it, I need gaming speeds, so fast and stable is the priority.

For reference, my Globe plan was their fiber plan for 1699 or something like that, with 200Mbps+.

Import fees for a desktop PC at NAIA airport

Hi all

I'm going to the Philippines for a month around Christmas and want to bring my gaming desktop PC. It's a tower, not a laptop, and will be about a year old by the time I travel.

I'm wondering whether I need to declare it at the airport and pay any fees. I read that I might have to declare that I'll take it back home and pay some kind of deposit. I'm flying into the Philippines through NAIA.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Why?…..do you love where you live….🤔

We all live in really great places. Places we chose…or places that were chosen for us.

Why do you love where you live?

For us:

Family nearby (30+ when everyone gets together).
A small but not-so-small town - 130,000 people and not a single traffic light 🤣.

30 minutes to S&R and Landers.

Amazing views…we're up high above a rice field, with beautiful mountain views too.

We can escape to the mountains or the beach (Zambales).

Only two neighbors…genuinely good, down-to-earth people. No issues…we share beers.🍻

Quiet and safe.

The new playbook: find a wife in the Philippines, then take her to Thailand or Vietnam

I'm seeing this really often lately. The logic is simple. It's easier to meet a woman in the Philippines than in Thailand or Vietnam. You don't want to stay in the Philippines because the quality of life is poor. If you take her to the US, she changes and divorces you to be with a better man. So the solution: move to Thailand or Vietnam. Both are said to have much better infrastructure and quality of life than the Philippines, and there's little risk of your Filipina wife being led astray by the locals there.

I only bring it up because I'm seeing this A LOT lately.

Thoughts?

You definitely have to check out Italianni's by the Bistro Group, located in the parking tower behind SM.

Everything is delicious. It's a bit pricey, but totally worth the money!

Thinking about moving to Manila – realistically, are there jobs for a German in technical sales?

Hi everyone,

I recently spent three weeks in the Philippines and completely fell in love with Manila.

What really struck me was the combination of Southeast Asian culture and how widely English is spoken. It made it feel very different from the other places I've traveled.

I spent the first few days wandering around Manila on my own, and later experienced the city with a local, which gave me a much better sense of what everyday life there might actually look like.

I'm from Germany, 38 years old, and I've been thinking about living abroad for a while. My English is pretty good, but not quite at the level where I can speak it completely effortlessly every day, mainly because I don't get much daily practice in Germany.

I work in B2B technical sales, mainly selling equipment (capital goods) in metalworking and industrial automation. I also have a technical background, so I'm used to discussing manufacturing processes, machinery and automation solutions with customers.

I don't expect to just move to Manila and get a German-level salary at a local company. But I'm really curious whether someone with my background could realistically find a well-paid role at a multinational, an international sales organization, or perhaps an APAC-focused position based in Manila.

Has anyone here made a similar move in the middle of their career?

I'd especially appreciate advice on:

Companies or industries worth looking into

International/European companies that hire foreigners in Manila

Realistic salary expectations

Work visa sponsorship

Whether it's better to apply from Germany or build a network locally

I'm not packing my bags tomorrow; I'm trying to gauge whether this could become a realistic plan over the next few years.

Any experiences or advice would be hugely appreciated!

About how some of you here behave (a rant)

I left a comment on the McDonald's post about the guy who asked for the music to be turned down. It got taken down, apparently because I used too many curse words or it was offensive or something, I don't really know. So this is my rant, and honestly the facts, about the situation and the problems I've seen on this forum and in the so-called 'expat mindset.' At least based on what I've seen in my month in the Philippines and less than a week in this group. So here goes.

1) This group is full of toxic, insufferable old men who get mad at the younger generation for doing the exact same thing they're doing. They say 'you're living off taxpayers' money and came here because it's cheap,' but man, isn't that exactly what you're doing? You're collecting your pension or disability or whatever, and you're mad at the younger generation for being in the same boat? You want us to work like slaves for a company that doesn't care about us and will replace us any time? Until we're old and frail and can't enjoy life anymore? You're openly attacking and harassing the younger generation like you were never young yourselves. Make it make sense.

2) And this is the real problem I've seen. You're in another country, meaning other people's homes, land and culture, and you've pushed prices up to where locals can barely get by in some places. You're living like kings with a young, pretty 'shawty' on your arm, and you complain? What? What exactly are you complaining about? That people don't act the way you'd expect back in your home country, by its social norms? Honestly I'm surprised most of you haven't gotten hurt yet by the real residents of this country, the locals. And you're the same people who say in the West (mainly us Americans), 'if you can't adjust to the USA, go back to your own country.' It's genuinely ridiculous and baffling to me. I really want to hear the opinions and experiences of the locals here who've had to deal with this kind of behavior. If you can't adjust, go back home.

Looking around here and there.

While traveling in Angeles, Philippines, one of the things that felt completely different from Korea wasn't the unexpectedly grand tourist spots, but rather the neighborhood commercial districts I'd accidentally stumble upon while riding around the city in a car.

As you drive around in Angeles, small alleys endlessly appear on both sides of the main road. At first, you just think of them as ordinary residential streets or neighborhood alleys. But if you mindlessly turn your head to look inside an alley, you strangely see people. Not just one or two, but quite a few people coming and going.

If you look a little closer, small shops are gathered there one by one. There are restaurants, small bars, convenience store-type shops, barber shops, laundry places, and shops selling everyday items. In some places, people pull chairs out onto the roadside and eat food, while in other places, motorcycles and jeepneys bustle in and out, overflowing with their own kind of life and energy.

The funny thing, though, is that just a few dozen meters further down, there is a much larger commercial district.

It makes you wonder if there's even any need to go all the way into that alley.

If you walk just a little further, there are bigger shops, more restaurants, and wider, cleaner roads, yet people insist on gathering in that tiny alley. When I see that while driving past, my head turns before I even realize it.

What on earth is in there?

At first, it was just simple curiosity.

But to the friend driving for me, even that seems fascinating. As we're driving along and I suddenly turn my head to stare down an alley, my friend laughs. They probably think to themselves, "He's looking at that thing again." They've even asked me before why I keep looking. I told them I do it unconsciously, without even realizing it.

However, I found those alleys quite interesting.

It's hard to see sights like this easily in Korea. Of course, neighborhood alleys exist in Korea too, but most of them are somewhat known commercial areas or places with a specific purpose. In Angeles, though, people gather in completely unremarkable places. Just a short step away from the main road, another small neighborhood appears, and inside that neighborhood, there is its own way of life.

And right there, there are the local people.

Strangely enough, I found that amusing.

Do these people actually live here?

How long have these shops been here?

Why did people start gathering in this alley?

With a larger commercial district just a bit further away, what on earth is the reason they come all the way here?

As I watch the scenery passing by outside the car window, I end up lost in these trivial thoughts.

Sometimes, rather than just a small alley, a surprisingly decent-looking commercial district pops up. That's when a momentary sense of anticipation builds.

Oh? This place looks pretty good!

Whenever that happens, I ask my friend to pull over for a second. Then I get out of the car and take a slow walk through the alley.

In truth, I'm not going in because there's something specific I need to buy. There are no famous tourist attractions. It's not a famous restaurant I found by searching the internet. It's just a place I happened to discover while passing by.

Yet, strangely, walking through places like that is enjoyable.

Watching what people are eating, seeing what kinds of shops are there, venturing a little deeper into the alley, and heading down another path when it opens up. Before you know it, you even temporarily forget the fact that you're a tourist.

It feels like getting a brief glimpse right into the middle of the everyday lives of the people living there.

I suppose this might be what the real fun of traveling is all about.

Visiting famous tourist spots and taking pictures is travel, too, but so is finding an alley that strangely catches your eye while driving around with no particular plan—and then getting out of the car to walk it yourself because you're curious why people are gathered there.

The alleys of Angeles seem like they have nothing special, yet they have something.

They aren't flashy, nor are they perfectly neat. At times they are narrow, crowded, and by Korean standards, many look quite worn down. Yet, there are definitely people living in them, people running businesses, people eating meals, and people meeting friends to chat.

On the main road, you see the city; in the alley, you see life.

I think I came to realize this little by little while traveling in Angeles.

So now, when I'm traveling by car, I find myself looking at the alleys rather than large buildings or famous spots. What might be at the end of that alley? Why are those people gathered over there? Might another small commercial district I didn't know about appear once again?

And whenever I actually discover a place like that, it inexplicably puts me in a good mood.

Travel doesn't always seem to be about heading straight toward a destination.

Sometimes it's about turning your head on a road you used to pass by mindlessly, feeling a sense of curiosity about a single small alley you accidentally found. And following that curiosity by getting out of the car to take a slow stroll.

Looking back, some of the most enjoyable moments I had in Angeles were precisely those kinds of moments.

Stepping into an alley where you know nothing, and gazing upon the everyday lives of people you know nothing about.

That alone made the trip more than fun enough.

Best places to live in the Philippines

I've been traveling for a little over a year. Next year I'm moving to the Philippines for at least six months. Where would you recommend? Safety, beaches, decent wifi and some emergency medical care are all that really matter to me.

Livable condos in BGC?

I stayed at Uptown Park Suites 2 for a short while. It was okay. Security was a bit much when bringing visitors. Leaving aside the really expensive places, which condos in BGC would you say are best for the long term, based on location, amenities and upkeep (few to no roaches)?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Family debt — utang na loob

My girlfriend and I have been together for a year. She's Filipino and grew up on an island in the Philippines.

Our whole relationship, her parents and siblings have leaned on her for money. They grew up very poor. She's the eldest of four, and at 33 she's never really had her own wants or needs supported. At one point she was $2–3k in debt while also paying off her parents' car.

Even after the car was paid off ($5,600 total), the pressure didn't stop. Her parents still guilt-trip her: they're 60 and 'old,' they're disappointed she's putting the relationship first, and she should go work abroad again to earn more instead of getting ready for a husband and a child. They almost never say they're proud of her or show appreciation. Everything feels transactional. She sometimes wonders whether they want her back home so she can keep supporting them, not so she can build her own life.

She has always contributed more than her siblings. Birthdays, trips, food, gifts, cakes — she pays for it. When she visits, she gets looks that say she's expected to spend. They rarely ask about her future, interests or hobbies. Before the car, she sent home $50–$200 a month on average. The more she earns, the more the goalposts move. Once the car was done, a new need appeared. They also comment on how comfortably we live, where we go, and which restaurants we eat at.

Recently she asked if she could stay with her parents and siblings while she waits for her U.S. visa. Their answer: 'What about us? Why not get married here? Are you only with him for a visa? It's better to go overseas and make money instead.' Both parents said this, and they barely talk to her otherwise. They know I'm financially stable, and I think they're afraid that if she leaves for the U.S., we'll put ourselves first and they'll lose access to what we have.

I'm shocked and looking for perspective. Is this just Filipino culture, or an extreme island version of it?

Why do AFAMs just stop replying?

You talk every day for days or weeks, and then you AFAMs just stop replying. Why?

I'm a tired Filipina.

Why do Filipinos try to hide being Filipino?

I've noticed a lot of Filipino women try to hide that they're Filipino. They'll bring up mixed ancestry going back three or more generations, and honestly, who even digs that up? I've heard women claim to be half Japanese, half Korean, half Vietnamese, half Mexican, half Spanish, half Indonesian, half Malaysian, and the funniest one, half Singaporean. Before 1957 there wasn't even such a thing as 'Singaporean.' Then there are the ones who claim a completely different nationality: Vietnamese, Mexican, Spanish, Malaysian.

How do I know they're not? You can tell from their reaction when I call them on it and say 'prove it.' They panic, get embarrassed, make excuses, and pull out the classic 'I don't have to prove anything to you.' That alone is the perfect proof.

My experience is somewhat limited: the dating scene inside and outside the Philippines, plus of course social media, dating apps and online. But then a cobbler (a man) working outside my hotel in Kuala Lumpur told me he was Malaysian when I asked. I only asked because he looked like the textbook stereotypical Filipino, and we were outside a Filipino shopping plaza in the middle of the Filipino community.

There's a second part to this too. Adults tell lies at a child's level, as if they've never been called out before, with an attitude that I can't prove otherwise. But flip the burden of proof onto them and, again, their reaction is all the proof you need.

Yes, sadly, I've formed an opinion of Filipinos as a whole.

A foreigner asked the staff to turn off the music and it completely killed the vibe at McDo.