UltraMAGA wrote:
polster wrote:
The issue with Philippines is the food is bland and mostly variations pork dishes with vinegar and soy sauce and very little use of spices. Also the living standard if your not going to be in the big city is very poor and not up to Western standards with infrastructure, hygiene and bathroom facilities.
I would consider Thailand or Vietnam (ie Da Nang) which has a lot of expats living there and has a more developed western standard of living vs. Philippines. Most of the people in the street in Thailand can communicate with you in broken English to very good English and so you don't have to even learn the language to get by.
Govt PR campaign is "It's more fun in the Philippines"
My slogan is "Best beaches, cheapest beer, worst food."
Restaurant food is not good so I mostly buy in markets and eat at home. Except calamares, scallops and beef noodle soup that I love and can buy at cheap places.
Currently I pay exactly $1 for cold San Miguel Light beer at our local sidewalk beer place on the main tourist street here.
Visas are easy and now I'm on 6 month visas. Best for visas is Cambodia where you can get one year extensions after first month. Thailand no bueno. 30 days plus 15 extension and then you must leave and then come back.
Vietnam no more one year extensions. 30 days and out is new rules from Covid days.
Vietnam is cheapest and good cheap food. Cambodia is next but the only real beach place is Sihanoukville and black Chinese money has ruined the place and nearly all expats left. Many went to Kampot where it' s good cheap living but it's too hot as it's 15 miles inland on a river. Siam Reap very hot.
I pity the pipo living in Chicago. Well, any USA pipo not living in Florida really.
Yeah, the morons here lie about all the pedos in PI but you find many more in NY, LA and probably Chicago where pedo action is part of the culture in some communities.
My beach is like this............
thanks for posting. this is all useful info.
ok....i know this is not pc to say....but i never got along with Vietnamese people. I have nothing against them, but the majority of them and me never meshed. For whatever reason. I'm not racist against them and don't hate them, it is what it is. So I doubt I want to go over there.
The Philippines, I don't care about the sex stuff either. I'm not stupid and I know there is a lot of that going on. There are like 60/70 year old bald men walking around with 20 somethings and sometimes married to them. We know what's up. He's got the money and she needs a way out of her socio-economic situation. What we use to call 3rd world poverty. None of my business, they are adults and agree to this kind of deal/relationship, good for them. But I don't really care and am not looking to do something like that.
If the food sucks then it sucks. Do they have anything other than filipino food there like we have here? Like can I get a taco or sushi or a fast food burger there? I am familiar with Joli-Bee and I think it sucks. But for example, if they have a chinatown there I can probably get some good Chinese food. Or any other type of ethnic specific area like we have here with our little italy's, chinatown's, soul food area's, etc...
And everyone talking English is a big deal. if I get sick and need to be hospitalized, there isn't time to play charades. They'll tell me what's wrong and I'll understand. And just daily life it will be so much easier than trying to learn a new language.
Another topic - Race - some people told me if you're white you're gonna get robbed at the airport right when you get off. I dont know about that. that's a bit extreme. I know there are tons of ex-pats over there. And I got a black friend who tells me racism is much less experienced for him in the Phillipines than he experienced when he was living in the US. He's not saying it doesn't exist, but he's lived in other parts of Asia like Japan, Korea w the U.S. military and said those places are like jim crow compared to the phillipines where people are generally more nicer and accepting. So that's a positive experience. I also haven't heard anything about anti-semitism there. Can you say more about this UltraMaga?