Best Posts in Forum: Dumaguete City

Well I read through all of the posts here in this thread and was amused by many of them...

Now; I am disabled (Broken leg for 33 years) and live on an Australian Disability Pension.

I am not a Party Animal & prefer the quiet life at home with my Wife & Daughter. (No Bars - NO Sexpat activities etc... Yes some will call THAT BORING but I am Happy.)

I live in South Negros in the province (Maluay, Zamboanguita) 25KM's from Dumaguete in the bamboo, in a Nipa Hut, & pump water by hand (no running water here) wash Clothes by hand, shower from a pail etc & I have Electricity, Internet, Pay TV which I consider necessities & I am extremely HAPPY with my lot in life.

Now; my Monthly allowance I give myself for Bike Payment, Electricity, Internet, Pay TV, Grocery Shopping at Hypermart, Fresh Meat, Fresh Vegetables, a few Treats, occasional clothing (from Ukay Ukay) Travel expenses catching Jeepney or Tricycle to the City and Home etc is $600.00USD a Month and I do not feel that I am missing out on anything here. Yes I have money left over and that is for myself, my Wife & our 10 year old Daughter who also incurs expenses at School & whatnot's...

I do not pay Rent because I live with the Family here so factor that in depending on what you need. Many come here shitting their pants worried about Terrorists. Sorry I laugh my @ss off at them! Dumaguete is not Manila or Mindanao! (And MANY Expats are living there just fine also!) I have lived here for the past 3 years with out so much as a scare from any of the locals, no gated community, no high walls, no Guard on duty, anyone so sh*t scared should stay in their own country in my way of thinking, in fact I am more relaxed here than I was back in Australia!

I have seen places here for 4,000 pesos a month I would live in, mind you the 8,000 a month Unit was nicer. If you adapt, eat the local foods, do as the locals do, you will do just fine! You will be able to afford to eat out daily unless you go to most of the local expat hang outs and pay the long nose prices for food! If you come here & wish to live with a Western mind set then you are better off staying where you are. I mix with very few expats for reasons much the same as Wrye pointed out, most I have met are down right losers here and no doubt back home, but I have met a select few who I think are very nice people, I just wish I had a car so I could visit them a little more so I had some outside contact here.

I honestly believe you can do it on $860USD a month as long as you are not what they call 'maarte' here. (Artista/ up yourself/ live beyond your means/ think you are better/ nothing is too your standards etc...)

If you are prepared to try & fit in, adapt to the local culture & foods & learn to experience life here, then you will do just fine here. If you are full of yourself, like to live the high life, like to be a boozer or womaniser & like to p*ss your money away, then better to stay where you are. Many here do just fine on a low income by adapting and learning how to budget correctly.

 

secret tip - I recommend Toledo City in the west of Cebu, if you are one of the more adventurous characters. city is not too big, some restaurants, a small mall, some not so impressive beaches nearby and most of all; an amazing bunch of young women looking for a foreigner. why? because there are no foreigners. why? this is a pristine rough place, if you like the real life in the philippines without any conveniences for the expats - some like that - adventures guaranteed :-)

 

Certainly you have some points and I am not hesitating to give them to you.
Many things need to improve in Duma. Traffic and trash solutions need to be found. I guess nobody can have seriously a different opinion about that.

Me personally don’t know a better place in Philippines than southern Negros. I know better countries, but my wife is from here, so no option to move ahead.

By the way, I am not exactly convinced that Rome and Florence are more clean compared to Duma. Pollution in Rome is exorbitant and Florence has, like almost all cities in Italy, an enormous trash problem.
Would be nice if you could post your observations after arrival.

 

I agree with you that drivers do not use the horn in Dumaguete or heavy traffic anywhere. Once you are on the highway where traffic flows faster then having a horn is a necessity.
When someone overtakes me on the highway and our speed difference is big I get really annoyed if they don't give a toot, toot. No warning is just plain dangerous IMO.

 

I really don't see where this thread is going. The law is quite specific, so there is no excuse for breaking the law. If you fraudulently have a SSC and get this discount, then you will be dealt with if you are caught. Most of us are here because we can live cheaper here. How much would you need to save, compared to being fined, imprisoned or deported. This card is meant for Filipinos whom are struggling to survive. My response is stop being a Cheap Charlie and respect our host country.

 

For Comparison: We have a couple who we use, one guy is a local here in Zamboanguita and will drive us to Dumaguete, wait for us when we go in to eat, wait while we do our Grocery Shopping etc... From Zamboanguita; we pay him 400 pesos to take us to Dumaguete, then another 400 pesos to take us home after our day out (he us happy to wait for us in between) and on the way home (if we are not too late going home) we usually stop at Chooks to Go and buy him a BBQ Chicken to take home to his family as it is usually well after dark by the time we arrive home here. We then tip him 100 to carry in our Groceries, so all up a 900 peso Fare (1100php with the BBQ Chicken) but well worth it for me.

Another guy (if we miss the first guy) usually spies us at Hypermart and races to us to bring us home as he lives nearby here and we are his last Fare for the day. We pay him 400 pesos to drive us home and tip him another 100 pesos as he usually carries in our 4x large boxes of groceries from the Highway along the Goat track to our house. Depending; we often buy him a BBQ Chicken also to take home to his Family.

 

Visa category 9A, valid for 59 days, and Conditions of stay: "PARENT OF MINOR FILIPINO NATIONAL, EXEMPTED UNDER FSC 36-2020"

I brought with me an original birth certificate to present in the PH embassy.

 

I play no part in that. My Wife and my Filipino Family here (including several neighbours) are the ones who arrange the rubbish, placing it into recyclable and non recyclable, place it into the correct bags, and dispose of it as they have been told to do by the Barangay Captain who lives nearby, by placing it alongside the Highway, exactly the same as the Barangay Captain does, beside his rubbish for collection. I have been here almost 5 years now and have not yet made an enemy (of local people) but do steer clear of several bitter self absorbed narcissistic Expats I have met, mainly due to attitudes similar to yours. I prefer the positive attitudes of the locals, and my Family here whom I live with in a small Nipa Hut, unlike quiet a few others who try to change the Philippines to suit them and Westernise it. It is what it is, please try to stay positive and not choke on your own bile. Once you learn to adapt to how life actually is here and just go with the flow, you will have a much more positive outlook on life here... Have a Good Day Sir...