Reading all the ridiculous answers here, I had to go back and re-read the question. I like living on Luzon (the mainland). There's a lot to experience. Small islands are nice for a visit, but you can see a whole island in a day or two, and then what do you do? Luzon has big cities, provinces, mountains, beaches, and open land, all of it. That's my take.
I don't eat dog meat, but eating dogs isn't immoral. If it were, then eating pigs, goats, and so on would all have to be immoral too. Apart from that I mostly agree, but "poverty" doesn't excuse behavior.
It depends on each franchise owner. It actually benefits them from a business standpoint too. Instead of selling cheap, they can write it off at full price and get a tax deduction. Of course, they have to take care of the collecting and handing out. Still, if it makes sense on the books, you might as well use it for something good.
If surfing is your top priority, head to the east coast. There are surf spots on Palawan's east coast too, and people say it's the most beautiful of all the islands.
Local Filipino food isn't good. I prefer the franchise restaurants in the malls.
Mindanao has a lot of great tennis players, and Cagayan de Oro is one of them, as mentioned above. A lesser-known male player (Francis Alcantara) who is internationally competitive came out of this city. His home court is the tennis court near Nazareth Street.
If you need more help, be sure to talk to the on-site manager or supervisor. It just has to be an onward ticket out of the Philippines, and it doesn't have to be to the US.
After the first 30 days of stay, you can get the 29-day visa extension online. But extensions of 1-2 months after day 59 can only be done at the Immigration office. After that, during the 1-year stay, you can alternate between extending online (OAPS) and visiting the office. After living here for 1 year, it can only be processed at the office.
Cebu City's downtown was good a few years ago.... forget it now ....🙈
It depends on the person. Owning a car isn't practical unless your Makati place comes with a parking space. Cars here are fairly cheap, and long-term rentals usually aren't worth the money. A decent used car runs around $15k–$30k. Make sure you bring a competent mechanic to check for flood damage and suspension wear. My setup is to take Grab around the city every day, and keep one SUV for trips out to the provinces or for times when Grab isn't reliable (holiday season, typhoon season, etc.). 1. License: a foreign license is valid for the first 90 days after you arrive. After 3 months you're supposed to get a local license, but in practice they don't really check. 2. Insurance: comprehensive insurance is pretty cheap. 3. Makati coding: Makati's coding runs all day with no exempt hours, except for hybrids or EVs with green plates. 4. Driving: driving here is different. If you've driven in other chaotic cities, you'll get used to it. It's mentally tiring (you have to watch for jaywalkers, reckless drivers, spaced-out drivers, motorcycles, animals, and so on), but it's not that bad. You have to drive a bit aggressively like the other drivers, otherwise you'll keep getting stuck at intersections. Overall, I found that the extra cost of keeping a car is worth it.
I guarantee you'll end up having problems with the authorities, who protect the wrong people.
AXA GHA is a really good insurance plan. There are lots of product options, from basic to full coverage including dental and vision. They pay the hospital directly, so you have no out-of-pocket costs. Coverage is 100 million pesos per year and applies worldwide. I've tried a couple of other companies' plans and had way too many problems. Over the past 2 years I've been hospitalized 12 times, totaling over 200 days, had 4 major surgeries, various procedures and tests, over 100 outpatient treatments, and lots of prescription medication, and AXA paid for everything as per the contract.
That's bad for the Philippines!!!!
One thing that's great about Conan is that he only cares about whether the bit is funny. If it helps the bit, he's happy to play the straight man and let someone else be the star.
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