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How good is the medical care in the Philippines?

I'm looking into medical care in Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. What experiences have you had with more holistic approaches, such as hormone testing or traditional medicine? I have a lot of chronic conditions.

Can an introvert live in the Philippines?

Especially in the provinces (rural areas). Everyone says you should blend in with the locals, but I'm 188cm (6'2") and a white American, so how is that even possible? Is the best approach just to embrace the culture, go with the flow, and stay outgoing and friendly? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

All that effort was for nothing 😭🙏

Do people in the Philippines usually wear seatbelts in the back seat?

Could you also tell me what country you're from? I think that would help me understand the cultural differences.

When I'm in a slow-moving car, I don't wear one, but I do when the speed goes up, like on a highway. When I took a Grab, the seatbelt buckle sometimes didn't work or wasn't there at all. When I mentioned it, the driver usually laughed it off and said things like, "It's the back seat, why do you need a seatbelt, sir?" or "You'll be fine, sir."

From my experience, not wearing a seatbelt in the back seat is much more common in developing countries than in developed ones. (Source: I've traveled to more than 70 countries as a digital nomad.)

Why do you think people in developing countries seem to care less about seatbelts? Or if your experience has been different, I'd love to hear how you've seen it.

Are there any senior members of the Korean community here who have received stem cell treatment in the Philippines? I'm considering it and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually tried it. Thank you!

Is there a pediatrician who recommends the 60-day delay for newborn vaccines recommended by the CDC in the Philippines?

To retirees (age 50 and over): As an older foreigner, how did you deal with the strict age limits on local health insurance in the Philippines, and how much did you end up paying out of pocket for medical care?

Why are some American expats so confident while knowing so little?

I know this may sound like a generalization, so I'll say up front: this isn't about all Americans.
Here in the Philippines, I keep running into a certain type of American expat who has an amazing ability to speak with complete certainty while knowing almost nothing.
Recently I got into an argument with one of them.
I told them I'm a foreigner (European) living here and that I work at an investment bank.
Their response was roughly this: "No, you don't. Investment bankers are in Singapore or Hong Kong."
That was it.
They knew nothing about where I work, what I do, or what my career looks like. Just because I'm in the Philippines, they concluded I must have made up my job.
If they had said, "Singapore and Hong Kong are bigger financial hubs in this region, and most regional finance jobs are concentrated there," that would be fine. A very reasonable statement.
But somehow it went from "Singapore and Hong Kong are bigger financial hubs" to "So there's no way someone doing investment banking is in the Philippines."
What is that…?
Do they think there are no banks in Manila? No M&A, no capital markets, no corporate finance, no major financial institutions? Have they never heard of Makati or BGC?
Do they think the entire Philippine economy consists of sari-sari stores, remittances, and foreigners spending dollars here?
Then it got even more absurd.
After deciding I was lying about my job, they started implying I was hiding some kind of crime. They went from "You're not an investment banker" to, quite literally, me wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and doing terrible things to vulnerable people.
Sorry, but how does someone get there?
Their logic went like this:
I live in the Philippines.
Investment bankers are usually in Singapore or Hong Kong.
So you're lying.
So you're hiding some criminal activity.
What bothered me wasn't that they were wrong. Anyone can be wrong.
It was the confidence.
That absolute certainty displayed while knowing almost nothing.
And I've kept seeing this from a certain type of expat here. Whether they live on a pension, savings, or remote income doesn't matter to me. Some came because it's cheap, some came because of a girlfriend or wife. Honestly, I don't care. Anyone can live wherever they want.
But some seem to spend years inside a small expat bubble and somehow become convinced they understand the Philippines better than anyone else.
They don't know the country's professional class, they don't know corporate life here, and they don't know the local economy beyond what they've personally seen.
Yet they state huge claims with total certainty.
That's the part I find fascinating.
It's not ignorance.
It's confident ignorance.
Being wrong is normal. But being wrong, not checking, accusing the other person of lying, and inventing a criminal story in your head because reality doesn't match your assumptions is a different problem.
Maybe it's just an expat phenomenon, maybe it's an American communication style, or maybe I've just met too many clueless people.
Still, I'm genuinely curious whether others here have noticed the same thing.

Does anyone understand this new law about filming vlogs here? I don't do vlogs, but it seems like it would cover anyone taking photos or videos in public places. That's not good news for tourism, haha.

Philippines 2-Month Trip

Hello,

I'm planning to travel to the Philippines from December to January, and I would really appreciate any advice or tips you can share.

I'll be staying in Makati for about a month.

Thank you!

Is anyone here interested in living in Tagaytay or nearby? Why is that area good?

Tricycle drivers are scammers.

Tricycle drivers are among the biggest scammers in the Philippines. And they show no consideration for other people's time at all.

[OC] Terrible Roleplay

Falling asleep while getting my nails done

Bear bath time

Hello, does anyone know how to get from Manila to Iloilo by car, and whether it's better to go from Batangas to Calapan or go straight from Batangas to Roxas City in Capiz? Thank you.

Do you really want to become a YouTuber?

Back when this place was mostly retirees, but now more and more young people without a pension to live on are showing up. So I understand why YouTube is the first option that comes to mind. Still, I'd like you to think through a few things before buying expensive equipment.

First, you do need equipment. You can start with a phone, but I don't know any serious YouTuber who makes videos with only a smartphone. Someone will say they started that way, but that was ten years ago.

Second, the odds. You might have a better chance of succeeding in Hollywood than of becoming a big success on YouTube. A 2018 German study found that 96.5 percent of YouTubers don't even clear the US poverty line from ad revenue, and the top 3 percent of channels take about 90 percent of all views. It hasn't gotten easier since then.

Now let's look at two successful people. Both have good content and are worth following.

BecomingFilipino is Kyle Jenner, better known as Kulas. He's probably the most famous foreign creator in this country. He has over 2,000 videos, 1.16 million subscribers, and about 1.4 million monthly views. YouTube pays per 1,000 views, and the rate varies by the viewer's location. Viewers in the US and UK earn a few dollars per 1,000 views, while Filipino viewers earn only a fraction of that, and many of his viewers are Filipino. By my estimate, he makes $2,000 to $5,000 a month from ads, plus another $3,000 to $4,000 from brand sponsorships and similar deals. That's after more than ten years of work. I saw Kulas once at Mayon Volcano. He was smiling, but he looked so exhausted behind the eyes.

Kumander Daot is a British man who spends most of his time in Sulu and makes content about expat life, business, and travel in Mindanao. He has about 256,000 subscribers. He probably earns around $2,500 to $3,000 a month. That's decent money around here. But think about what it took to get there: years of uploading, making thumbnails, filming, risking his life, and so on.

These are only estimates of ad revenue. Both probably earn more from sponsorships. But that's the point. The people who make a living from this treat it like a business, and it took them years to get there.

And until you qualify, you don't get anything. To earn ad revenue right now, you need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in a year, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. Starting February 1, 2027, the watch-hour requirement doubles to 8,000 hours, and the Shorts requirement doubles to 20 million views. Then there's the actual work: scripting, editing, thumbnails, responding to comments, and posting on schedule whether you feel like it or not.

Finally, burnout is real. Lost LeBlanc built a travel channel with millions of subscribers by quitting his job and traveling the world. He hasn't posted a video since March. And it's a rat race. You're only as good as your last upload, and one flop can cause your reach to plummet for weeks. When established YouTubers who are doing well go quiet, I start to think that in the long run, YouTube may not be worth what it looks like. Don't misunderstand me. If you love YouTube and feel you have something truly unique and interesting to show, go for it. But let's be clear: this is a job. It's a full-time job with no benefits and no guarantee of next month's paycheck.

Hello everyone, I'd appreciate some advice. I'm British and have been living here for 4 years, always renting my accommodation. My fiancée and I, whom I've been seeing for a year and a half, are finally planning to get married... I've been staying on a tourist visa so far, and I'm considering applying for a 13a. Before I go to inquire at the B.I., could anyone tell me a few things? For example, how long after receiving the marriage license can I get the 13a? Is there a deadline? What additional costs are involved? I have my first wife's death certificate and my birth certificate, but are there any other documents I need? And anything else I should know. I'm only looking for sensible advice from married people living in the Philippines, thank you.

Why do foreign residents and tourists dress so badly?

Whether in Manila or the provinces, Western men all seem to dress terribly. Cargo shorts, faded t-shirts, and even worse, tank tops with slippers. The contrast with Korean men is striking. Korean men pay quite a bit of attention to their clothes, and Korean women dress better than women in any part of Western Europe, anyway.

Don't you feel even a little like dressing up? Aren't you ashamed to represent your home country so poorly?

This is a simple question. I'm just curious (it's not something I plan to do, I'm just thinking about it). If I go to Manila to apply for a 6-month visa and get rejected, what happens? Do I go somewhere else and apply for the 2-month extension I usually do? Or do I stay in Manila and apply for the 2 months instead? What if that gets rejected too? Can I go to a different BI office and hope it gets approved?
(Sorry, that wasn't really a simple question.)