A happy move.....

Being Bacolod a better place to live than Dumaguete is a matter of personal preferences and experiences. But a bit more fresh air in Dumaguete than polluted air by 2 stroke tricycles (just to mention one reason, there are many more of course) would be a step in the good direction. And yes Bacolod has much more (not only seems but really has like infrastructure), in terms of malls and restaurants, to offer than Dumaguete. The main reason I don't live in Bacolod is that my girlfriend found it very difficult to communicate as the local language is Illonggo. Another reason was to find a nice place for rent to live. What was on offer during the time we were looking around was very limited. If you own a house around Dumaguete and not that easy to get rid of it for a price you want, thinking about a move elsewhere will not come up in your mind. That does not mean if somebody else decide to transfer to say he cannot adjust is a bit short sighted and has nothing to do with it. I like (what's in a name) to live in Dumaguete (let's say 50/50). Which automatically implicates that the day I will find a place of which I think it's an improvement I will also transfer and also has nothing to do I cannot adjust or adapt. The text of my signature speaks for itself. So when people wanna live for the rest of their life in Dumaguete, so let it be, while others are in for a change; why not!

 

Lets us know about what you think 6 months from now. Ive been up there a few time and the big drawback for me is the traffic and congestion.

Hope it works out for you and a move once in a while is a good thing. I like to move very 3 or 4 years just to mix things up.

good luck and enjoy.

 

I envy BACOLOD... nothing more to say!

 

When I started this thread I wanted to share some info about Bacolod and our move there. HAPPINESS we have more than we can handle between us. I was talking about a HAPPIER and Healthier environment, Like fresh air, less crime, real people (and for sure Ilongos they are), nice places to shop, SM, Robinson's, and a couple of more. Good selection of food both local and imported. Excellent restaurants around fifty of them and good entertainment. Very few tricycles and Taxi's wherever you go. Great infrastructure and wide roads , like in a real city. No more SOOT coming in to our house makes my wife happy. We can tell the big difference between Dumaguete and Bacolod, and it is wonderful to again breath FRESH AIR. Mainreasons to move here was 2, one to live in a healthier environment and two, we wanted to expand our business and found that there was a need in Bacolod for our proffesion.
I never intended for the readers to believe that you will be a Happier person just by moving to Bacolod....... But for most expats living here and there are many, they all say the same...... A move to Bacolod is a HAPPY MOVE!

Don't get me wrong......we were very happy with eachother and our home in Dumaguete....... but more Happiness between us now when we can breath fresh air again, and no more BLACK SOOT flying around us. God Bless and take care guys.

Happiness is within!

 

Nothing to add to that...

 

Ah, yes you're right, happiness is within us all, but unfortunately so too is envy...........! I wouldn't worry too much about 'detractors', each to their own.

 

Oh boy where do I start? I lived in the area for 3 years and lived in Bacolod for over 2 years, hemm clean air nooooop every night the soot would fall into my dirty kitchen and laundry, and wide roads yes but the stupid jeepny drivers park 3 side by side only 10 mtrs from the traffic lights, the jeepneys are just as bad as the tricycle here in Duma, they play hopscotch with each other, bunch of turds, crime well in my very sought after subdivision Villa Angela Subd there were was two 16 year old maids raped and murdered their throats cut, 10 house burglaries within about two or three months while some of the home owner were home even in the day time, Goldenfields that is the prostie hot spot. Yep many taxies but 90% of them are death traps. My asawa is an illongo so she has the language barrier here in Duma but she is doing well, I personally found Bacolod a hole, the only thing it had going for it was that it had a good industrial supplies and car parts mostly in one area, as for food prices the vegies are very expensive Bacolod 1 choko P25 here in Duma three for P15, egg plant P60 per kg here in Duma P10, even in the dirty market of burgos the prices were expensive, very similar to SM, we have been here for about 8 weeks and so far so good, it is an improvement from Bacolod.
Don’t get me wrong the moron trickle drivers in Duma totally give me the sh—ts, the Mayor needs to get rid of those stupid canopy’s that stick out so far from the Bike, they are wider than a small car, they are a fortified bike with no to very little damage to them if they hit you or each other.
Malls yes 3 but Gasano is not much, robo and sm are good, as for the restaurants I think better here in Duma, hemmm again on the fresh air wait until milling season, when they burn off you won’t be a happy little veggie, with sugar cane plantations spotted everywhere, and back to the roads when I was there last there was a minor accident on the main drag Lackson st close to Robo and you are totally stuck can’t go back can’t go forward.

 

When I originally replied to this thread my point was that many people move around a lot (perhaps I was rather blunt). I myself did for 30 years. When they move to a new place they are so happy, they tell everyone they know what a great place it is. Within a year or two, they are having the same complaints, or just as many, as they did where they moved from. Within "4,5 years" they hate the place, and cannot wait to get away from it all.

Hence my post, "let us know how you like it after 4,5 years of living there". Until that time, in my opinion you cannot make an unbiased accurate judgement. Every place has it's good points and bad points, which you are not going to find after living there just a short time.

From there, the entire thread kind of went off on a tangent.

We live in Valencia, we don't have a soot problem, and little noise problem. We get cheap electricity, and have a municipal government that really tries to make it a nice place to live. I wake up every day to birds singing and fresh clean air, probably much cleaner and pleasant than in your subdivision in Bacolod. After living here, I don't for a minute think I could be happy in lower Bagacay for long, and know I could not live happily in a subdivision anywhere in the Philippines. I have always maintained that Dumaguete itself rather sucks, but the surrounding areas are terrific.

Granted, Dumaguete is rather stinky, and has some serious infrastructure problems which the powers that be don't seem to be addressing. However, if I had to pay P100 for every time I go to the grocery store, and P100 every time I return home, this would add P5000+ to my food bill. As far as items commonly looked for by foreigners, there seems to me to be much more availability in Dumaguete than Bacolod, again judging by my limited experience in Bacolod.

In our trips to Bacolod, we saw very few foreigners (maybe a good thing). When I go to Duma I see them everywhere, blacks, whites, young, old, male, female, entire families, they are all here. But if you say there are many living in Bacolod I will take your word for it. I think on an average day in Bacolod we saw 5-10, at the most. I see 5-10 on my way to Duma from Valencia.

If one reads the Visayan Daily Star on a regular basis, (Welcome to the VISAYAN DAILY STAR Website) one would determine there is PLENTY of crime in Bacolod. Rapes, murders, and police corruption seem to be a daily occurrence.

An area like "goldenfields" holds absolutely no appeal to me whatsoever. Your desires and that of your wife and family may differ somewhat.

And to be brutally honest, if for any reason this area was no longer pleasant for me, Bacolod would be a place I would look into, as would CDO, Surigao, and Davao. Would I be happier there after 9 years than I am here? You would have to ask me after 9 years or so of living there, not just a month after the move...

Happiness IS within, if you were so miserable after 4,5 years in Duma, chances are you will be no happier after 4,5 years in Bacolod. It may be different issues, but there will most likely be just as many issues, and the same level of discontent. I do hope I am wrong, but only time will tell.

Just my thoughts.

Larry

 

Brian

We didn't know that there are 2 different Bacolods....... maybe it has to do with 2 different attitudes.... think about it!

 

Maybe it's got everything to do with the newness of being somewhere new. You probably thought the same about Dumaguete when you first moved here, and if it is so bad, how come it took you 4.5 years to move out ?? Think about it.