⌛ Hello from new guy...long post...sorry

lofty and teacher, thanks... every bit of input helps...though i know the visit is paramount. My thai friends here rank tops in musical talent though it is often wasted by 'requests' from the audience... but philis are famous for their music and i look forward to listening to some of it.... i prefer music, not songs.. words are in the head, music is in the heart and soul...my not so humble opinion, haha... cebu is first target and lofty comments and chiang mai comparison is a plus... though i generally favor a smaller city and will visit a few in visayas with duma top of list.. but who knows... we shall see.
teacher, it would depend where you where in thailand and with who... i would agree with you for most of thailand but chiang mai is really special. but you all give me very good feeling about visiting there... are most of you in dumaguete area or near, hence being on this forum??
And if most of you are married to a nice gal there it colors it positively...life is people and who you are with, not only city streets etc. One plus for phili in my opinion is that it will be a lot easier to relate to locals with some english and more friendly character. There are scammers and diggers everywhere so i hope i can see through that... and at 66 i am not looking for young girl of my imagination... though my friends always remind me that hope dies last, haha... good friends are ok, a treasure... more ok more ok too, haha, but not a critical need...best to accept life as it is and lucky if there are positive surprises.. it takes a long time for me to meet anyone anyway since i don't drink or socialize much... and if i go to hear music, dang, i like to hear the music, haha, not shout or strain my ears with conversation. got to admit, i kinda wish i had gone there when i was half my age... cheers and thanks again, john