Please!...use your trusty search engine to spare us
My actual initial post was based on being a home owner, living and working there.
Although my views aren't consistent with a few they are with many...like I said, I agree with Michael's take.
My idea of incompetence is how slow things moves along there...much the same we dont get here in UK.
First of all I dont think you can compare Manila with Bohol. Its like saying London is the same as a small villiage here. Obviously you guys have spent more time in the phils than I have but where I go I have no problems. I get on with the locals and I dont feel threatened.
Usually it is said (or someone pulls out an invisible handkerchief for the person in question!) when they're struggling to express something in English. In a broader context, it used for anything difficult.Originally Posted by lastlid
Yep, I can't really comment much on the province. I found the stare factor went up about x10 where I went in Aklan though.
Yep, like saying London is the same as the Isle of Man, for example. Huge difference.
Point understood, Andy. And presumably no pollution in the provinces, I am guessing......
Well where my wife lives it is a growing city there is pollution there like everywhere else but not to the extent of manila. Cebu city I wasnt keen on but I liked Bohol. Aklan well I have been only to boracay twice. And it is a tourist haven I think they all stare at each other there but I never felt threatened. Oh and camiguin was nice too,
I only spent two trips in the Philippines, but I never felt that I drew stares. And I am unmissable at 6ft 1" and with skin.
What got under my skin was the "in yer face" street vendors" at the resorts.
I will say one thing the filipinos that I have met are the proudest people of their country unfortunately not like here. Just my opinion.
Steve. I live in Phills just on a state pension and I can assure you we live very well. Admitted we have our house already. We eat out every day, BBQ nearly every night and the gin is only 2 quid a bottle.
just like moving anywhere, a few years back we had a place in france, you had to learn hard there , its called getting on with your neigbours,you cant expect to walk into any other country thinking i am english and thats it, i dont intend to be in manila, i dont intend to be with a expat village,i dont intend to be sharing my thoughts and dreams over a drink talking about what i miss from my homeland,a long time ago when food and money was hard to come by here when i was a nipper, everything was grown in your back garden, thats my intensions, to go back and live of the land and sea, but knowing i have thousands in the bank for that saying JUST IN CASE, i know everyone means well, and i will take all the advice i can,even my EM thinks me mad about my container living, but we all have to start somewhere, like i have said i dont think i am a fool, i am not into buying a business, investing over there or anything, my investments are all here in england,i want to finnish my life in warmth and just being happy touring the phils and further,plus making sure Ems has enough when i am gone, or as she says she will be gone before me with all the fatty food she eats
thank god someone has said this, its my thought too, Manila is just to fast, dont get me wrong i have only been to bohol, panglao the once but its a feeling of calm and home
thanks jonnijon, its our intension to have a house as soon as we find the right one,Steve. I live in Phills just on a state pension and I can assure you we live very well. Admitted we have our house already. We eat out every day, BBQ nearly every night and the gin is only 2 quid a bottle.
good and bad everywhere
never heard that before, but to tell the truth , some of the locals speak better english then many of us, plus its nice to here lots of thankyou and hello and may i help you, i must have been going to differant shops,dont get me wrong first time you walk into a shop and you cannot find what you are looking for then you have to try to explain in the way you talk to a 4 year old, before realizing they talk better then yourself
I will say one thing Steve, you have chosen to live on one of the nicest Islands in the Philipinnes, I sincerley wish you all the best in the future. Would love to meet you sometime.
thanks Michael, i think so too,you are only a spit up the road from where we are i think, is it cresswell near clowne
Correct Steve!
I can quite honestly say that in the last 5 years I have not had a "hey Joe" once here in Bohol.. Out here in the province it really is very peaceful and feels very very safe to me.The 'Hey Joe' shouts might be amusing for a couple of weeks on holiday but, let me tell you, they really start to grate after months and months. Especially when you start to notice that the shouts are often coming from behind you
I lived in Manila for 3 years in the 80`s and got that stuff ('Hey Joe') all the time.. I just used to smile at them and replied "Hi" !! I made a lot of Filipino friends that way.
No big deal... I can think of far worse scenarios just walking home from a British boozer..
Steve,
There is no definite answer to your question as it really depends on how/where you live in the Philippines. You could live on 500 a month here but if your used to a comfortable lifestyle 1,000 plus would be a better number.
Dave,
I moved here when i was 30 years old. Ive now been here 14 years and dont regret my decision. It is possible to make money here if you play your cards right. Started our business with the mighty some of 2,000 quid! You never know until you try.
£2k is nothing for starting up a business. You couldn't do it in the U.K for that amount nowadays. That's the route I'm looking to go down - starting off a biz in the Phils.
Jamie..
To start a business with a capital start up here with only 140,000 PHP would be very very tough proposition even if you are an extremely business minded and industrious person with a ton of experience in competing with local businessmen..
Certainly,if you are young enough,give it a go as a bit of fun and to gain some experience..
Just get ready for lots of frustration and headaches..
Its a good way to learn though and its what I did for a year or two.
Now if you are serious and have lets say 10 Million PHP,I can show you a way to make an easy 75,000 PHP per month.
Fred/Jamie,
Was a very small amount we started with with and i wont say it was easy. We lived on a very small amount every month for the first couple of years and our lifestyle was similar to a average Filipino's.
I don't have a fancy degree in business which could actually be a hindrance in the Philippines as things don't work the same as they do in other countries. The headaches and frustrations we experienced at the start are almost non existent nowadays as we learned to always have a back up plan for these days.
Another important factor is don't pee the local offs as everything you do will be become twice as hard.
Any time you guys are in the south of laguna your a welcome to drop by and see our store and manufacturing operation. Its not high tech but we can still produce up to 10,000 pairs of sandals per month.
Would want more than 75k for my 10 million
The old saying about the Philippines, "how to make a small fortune in the Philippines, go there with a very large one"
The old saying about the Philippines, "how to make a small fortune in the Philippines, go there with a very large one"think i must have got that one the wrong way round
Jake... I said easy money.Would want more than 75k for my 10 million
Ive had my trials here and have lost lots of cash in the R.P experimenting over a 15 year period.. I was bankrupt here aged 20yrs old and spent the next 3 years here with nothing... Absolutely NO regrets as I learned a lot back then and had soooo much fun in that process.
These days our business is enough..More than enough to support a large family with such things as private schools etc to pay for ,a home to run etc without external support..
Im really glad to hear that you are doing well and you have my up most respect for that...I mean that sincerely.. I will visit your operation when Im in town next although not sure when that might be.. Cheers,
Fred.
Nice looking sandals/shoes BTW !!
Theres a swiss guy on siquijor,Rolfe I dont know if you know him michael,used to fish over your side of the island often,he had a motorbike accident,broke his jaw,leg etc,the kid who hit him did a runner,left the island as he didnt have a licence nor insurance(surprise,surprise)and it took Rolfe a while before a jeepney took him to siquijor hospital at pangi.and if you have a serious road accident just remember there is no way you can get to a hospital quickly.
Pinas isnt paradise,or if it is its got its fair quota of thorns,its rough and ready and isnt everyones idea of heaven,nice place for an extended holiday but after a while the cracks start to show,small things like "Hey joe" always amuse me,I just answer "Yeah Phil?" which puzzles them
Bohol is a beautiful place,hope you enjoy it
Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again. But life goes on.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the passion that she shows to the outside world.
Now if you are serious and have lets say 10 Million PHP,I can show you a way to make an easy 75,000 PHP per month.
Sounds very similar to how Henry Sy beganFred/Jamie,
Was a very small amount we started with with and i wont say it was easy. We lived on a very small amount every month for the first couple of years and our lifestyle was similar to a average Filipino's.
I don't have a fancy degree in business which could actually be a hindrance in the Philippines as things don't work the same as they do in other countries. The headaches and frustrations we experienced at the start are almost non existent nowadays as we learned to always have a back up plan for these days.
Another important factor is don't pee the local offs as everything you do will be become twice as hard.
Any time you guys are in the south of laguna your a welcome to drop by and see our store and manufacturing operation. Its not high tech but we can still produce up to 10,000 pairs of sandals per month.
Would want more than 75k for my 10 million
I've heard that one but there is always an exception to the rule.The old saying about the Philippines, "how to make a small fortune in the Philippines, go there with a very large one"
I have a pic somewhere,I took it when I sat in a ramshackle turo-turo in Sulu,the doorway entrance has maybe 10 or 12 kids staring in at me,that was years ago,I think nowadays people dont stare as much or maybe I no longer notice itI found the stare factor went up about x10 where I went in Aklan though.
Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again. But life goes on.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the passion that she shows to the outside world.
[QUOTE=fred;408799]Jake... I said easy money.
Was only joking. Couldn't manage that much as the 500php allowance the wife gives me doesn't go far
Nice to hear you have no regrets about the time you spent here in your early 20's and the fact you managed to survive for 3 years tells me that you understand how things work. Must have been fun as you have come back for more!
I had holiday here in 86 at the age of 18. My cousin was working/advising on a fish farm and came over for a 3 week holiday. Ever since then for some odd reason i have been hooked on the place and spent many a vacation here before we decided to move permanently.
Like Tawi said its not paradise but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else as i enjoy the craziness of it all.
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