色花堂

Hi, KenUSA

I been though the process! Since money isn't a concern you might try my favorite pastime in Phil's! I bought a DJI Drone and started videoing many of the Islands as i traveled around! I'm a retired land surveyor and soon found out that i could create 3D maps for engineers in the Philippines and now make a pretty good supplemental income! Plus pure fun in the sun! I also do drone photo's for weddings!

Which months do you intend to spend in the Philippines?聽 What are your interests?聽 All you need is a tourist visa which can be extended very easily in Manila once things get back to normal.聽 Maybe next year.

KenUSA wrote:

Hi everyone! Need your Advice.... What should I do if I decide to kinda semi-retire in the Philippines 馃嚨馃嚟聽
I have 2 Condos in BGC: Bonifacio Global City. I can stay in 1 of them. I have visited Manila 5 times... Just for a Holiday though only 1-2 weeks each time.
BUT NOW I鈥檓 planning on staying in BGC: Bonifacio Global City for 3-4 months at a time.聽 I NEED YOUR ADVICE & IDEAS 馃檹馃徏 what to do ......? What should I do there ....?

Sell the condos in Manila聽 聽聽 and get a place elsewhere.聽 聽
I guess you don't like such places as I like but there are many better places than Manila.
E g the popular Baguio, Tagaytay or Dumaguete with the less hot hills outside Dumaguete.聽 And there are nice beaches in many places.

KenUSA wrote:

I鈥檝e always been an overachiever but got to slow down now & chill a bit too!

How to chill in Manila????聽 I count Manila as among the LEAST chilling places in the world聽 haha

I talk for Palawan. It's voted among the best islands in the world several times..,聽 It has everything except earthquakes聽 聽聽 聽 聽 from an average size city, very popular tourist places with actions in north, chilling calm tourism in many places.聽 An explorer travelling around the world making documentaries got extatic about the diving, there are a lot of diving places at Palawan.聽 And there are calm rural places as I like, away from tourists, both beaches and inland.聽 Just stay away from downstreams mines, because they have destroyed some rivers in south.聽 聽Bill Gates has an own island there of some reason聽 close to the main Palawan island.聽 There are several small islands for sale.

I'm with Coach on this one - why Manila??

There are sooo many awesome places in the Philippines, especially further south in the Visayas - Cebu City, Panglao, Dumaguete and many more. Fewer Typhoons also.聽 Or go north for that matter, but I'm not familiar with those areas.

As to what to do? What do you like to do in the US? Most activities can be done in the Philippines, and a lot more inexpensively. I bike 3x week for exercise and my gf and I have coffee or eat lunch out many days, swim in the pool or ocean, do yoga (only $4), ride motorcycles, go island hopping, and lots more. There is also tennis and many golf courses for those who enjoy that. We also make regular trips to other parts of the region - Singapore, Malaysia, Bali, Thailand, and Vietnam since 2016.

Personally I am very bored when I am in the US, not so much in the Philippines, where things are generally more interesting and visually stimulating. There's always something going on, no matter where you are.

Hi KenUSA;
Yes I'd agree that Manila (hell for me it applies to anykind of conjested city/condo/apartment/living) has lost much/all of its attraction for many an older retired expat.
You may infact overachieve happiness just by staying/living in some of the many backwater provinces.
Why not take a leap of faith.

Omo

Welcome to the forum KenUSA, enjoy. Some great advice and ideas here, really it depends on what you are looking for both now and in the future,,,,, long term.
You know we had a 3 bed 3 bath condo in manila for 12 months,,,,,,,, bored bored and bored again but that was us, how many times can you go to the comedy club or the strip in Malate or all the restaurants, malls and Starbucks, you get the drift and perhaps for 3 or 4 months that's fine and could work for you seeing as you already have a stake in the game with property. We are all different that's for sure and a quiet life in the province on the beach was our choice but we are not party animals and both hate the smells and traffic in Manila.
Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

Personally...... and this is just a personal opinion, I think that Manila would be the worst place to choose to live in the Philippines, I can think of only one reason to ever go to Manila and that is to get an international flight either into or out of the country.

I am writing in Manila, near Mall of Asia, which is virtually a ghost town.聽 Masks and faceshields are mandatory.聽 Travel restrictions, but parts of Pasay are under lockdown due to a CV19 outbreak.聽

Wife had medical exam Thursday and Friday, and she has a Visa interview March 15.

It will be nice not to house bound like we have been for almost a year, due to CV19.

Travel opened up effective March 1, but it is not like before.

Even if liking things in Manila (or for them needing medical)聽 it's much better to live outside Manila and go there temporary, so avoid the terrible parts in Manila as e g traffic jams the rest of the time.聽
E g there are some nice places at Laguna. Or north if fly often.聽

BUT whole that region is inside "The North Typhon Belt".聽 And earthquakes.聽
Among the main islands only Palawan (and a small part of Panay) are without earthquakes. That's why I changed my mind to Palawan.聽 I liked many islands e g Bohol - before I saw maps of earthquakes聽 聽

Why Manila?
I guess if you like the city . .....
I'd still ask: Why Manila?
Maybe it is good to decide what you want to do and what kind of environment you want to live in before deciding where to live.
Did I ask: Why Manila?

Jackson4 wrote:

Why Manila?
I guess if you like the city . .....
I'd still ask: Why Manila?
Maybe it is good to decide what you want to do and what kind of environment you want to live in before deciding where to live.
Did I ask: Why Manila?

I live in Pasig City (Manila) and I hate it. Asking why I moved here or why I don't move would bring up a myriad of things which I have no control of.

So why do seniors or retirees pull up roots and move? The answer my friend is not blowing in the wind. The answer is in most part they are returning to a place they enjoyed visiting.

I had moved to Las Vegas because that was the number one place I enjoyed. My first trip there, the population was 90,000. When I moved there the metro population was 1.5 million, so a lot of seniors had the same idea.

No one in there right mind would move to metro Manila area unless they had extraneous circumstances. With all the downside of metro Manila why move here when you can find the same conditions and downside in a city in your own country?

Enzyte Bob wrote:

With all the downside of metro Manila why move here when you can find the same conditions and downside in a city in your own country?

There aee no such terrible place to find in my home country聽 聽
Metro Manila has biger population than whole Sweden. Sweden has same land space as whole Philppines. So not odd Metro Manila has pollution and traffic problems...聽 聽 聽
I guess some less traffic jams now by covid, but big missing sspace problem for social distancing.聽 Duterte got angry at people in Manila didn't follow the covid restrictions. And no free spaces to be out at as most other places in Phils have, and聽 has the WORST covid restrictions need...

coach53 wrote:

Enzyte Bob wrote:

With all the downside of metro Manila why move here when you can find the same conditions and downside in a city in your own country?

There aee no such terrible place to find in my home country聽 聽

I guess Coach, you would be accused of blasphemy in the welfare state of Sweden as you don't believe or conform to Jantelagen, it's a good thing for you to have escaped to the Philippines.

Short review of Swedish Jantelagen code of conduct:

Doing things out of the ordinary, being overly ambitious is inappropriate. You are not to think yourself as anything special. You are not smarter, better or more knowledgeable聽 than anyone else. You are not to think that anyone cares about you or you are good at anything or good as anyone else.

I can see why you moved to the Philippines, Freedom at last for you.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

I guess Coach, you would be accused of blasphemy in the welfare state of Sweden as you don't believe or conform to Jantelagen, it's a good thing for you to have escaped to the Philippines.
Short review of Swedish Jantelagen code of conduct:
Doing things out of the ordinary, being overly ambitious is inappropriate. You are not to think yourself as anything special. You are not smarter, better or more knowledgeable聽 than anyone else. You are not to think that anyone cares about you or you are good at anything or good as anyone else..

In Sweden I have been accused for more than that :including laught at and being idiot - until they could see the results聽 聽 -聽 when I told goals normal people found impossible.

I'm not much ambisious, I' relax much in between "projects",聽 it's more about liking challenges of different types聽 (e g sports both as sportsman and leader, get a book approved by publisher, picked to region team in dance, start business in Sweden with crazy litle capital for such type of business and abroad in a way people find impossible.)

Enzyte Bob wrote:

I can see why you moved to the Philippines, Freedom at last for you.

Well.聽 In Sweden I can't be deported and not so big risk to be killed if I say "to much"聽 聽聽 聽I don't bother much about what people think about me - except if someone say something stupid, which can聽 damage repution importamt for business or sport club or make bad effect at some interesting woman's thoughts about me聽 聽

Hi
Do like I did! Buy a nice drone and fly the Philippines! Take breath taking videos and photos and post to YouTube! Now I have fun in the sun and btw with your photo's you can download software that will turn them into a 3D model for engineer's to use. High demand for that and money is good! Also I do Drone footage for Weddings! Easy to learn how to fly like a pro on your own! YouTube has everything you need! BTW I love all the mentioned areas all have their pros and cons! One place I really like is San Fernando. The beaches on the north side of town are awesome and the city has everything you need. This place and Dumaguete are the cheapest on that list. Dumaguete is usually in the top 10 places to retire to in the world! Don't be overly concerned about Hurricanes and Earthquakes. They are a way of life here and you will get used to it! My experience with both here is extensive! I was in Tagaytay for the last earthquakes! My house had 17" of ash the first day! Good luck

link to San Fernando in La Union

Probably off topic as the OP is looking for things to do in Manila but to add to lasvegan's post mentioning San Fernando La Union, we are half an hour north. Bacnotan.



Many worry about earthquakes and typhoons and rightly so but you can pick good areas to live, going by the link above there were some 54 quakes of varying magnitude in and around La Union in the last 30 days. WOW, never felt anything, the houses here are built to suit these problems,,,,, well mostly.

We live on the West coast, most if not all typhoons come in from the East and there is a spine of mountains that run through central Luzon that break the typhoons up so a cat 4 or 5 hitting the east is usually a 1 or 2 when it gets to us here.

Living on the beach my biggest worry is being hit by a large tsunami, all over red rover then.

Cheers, Steve.