KEY Thread Best Posts in Thread: If not Dumaguete then where?

We live in Tanjay, so a ways out of Dumaguete. The reasons for Tanjay is the wife is from there and having the family support system is nice; if we need to go anywhere someone from her family will be by to make sure the dogs are fed and our son is watched over. Plus I prefer the small town atmosphere. 10 minutes from out from our house going south there is a decent, somewhat secluded beach area that is perfect for little family get togethers. Bais has some nice areas to visit and a real good selection of seafood at the markets. Decent fresh water fishing in Mabinay with a small little resort that is nice for a weekend get away.

We only go to Dumaguete on average 3-4 times a month and that is usually for buying things we can't get in Tanjay, restaurants and to catch a movie. We travel by bus to Dumaguete and then trikes to get around. Traffic does not bother us too much by using a public transportation and if we are buying big things we will either check into delivery or the wife will call up a jeepney and for less than 1000 peso they will load, deliver and offload in Tanjay. Neither of us are into the "nightlife" and stay at home more often than not so Tanjay works well for us. Close enough to Dumaguete to make the occasional trip but far enough...

I retired from the USAF as an E-7 after 20 years at 37 years old (was stationed at my first base 2 weeks before I turned 18). For a family of 3 with house and lot paid for and no bills (other than electric, internet and cable) we can get by on my retired pay. It takes quite a bit of adjustment (mostly on my part) but it can be done. I took a year off from work after 2 years working in Afghanistan and it was partially an experiment to see what I would spend when looking forward to retiring for good. We would average about $1200 a month give or take with most spent on food, beer (I like beer) and everything that comes with sending our son to school. I am not good with dried fish and rice so the food bill was mostly for pork, chicken and fresh fish; the wife spends less when I am gone as she goes back to eating dishes she grew up with which are much cheaper than the foods I prefer to eat.

It was an experiment and taking some needed time off but still wanted to go back to work. The project I am currently working should finish in summer/fall of 2018 and then I should have things set to retire for good. At least that is the plan at the moment.

Every place is really what you make of it in my opinion. I met some good people when in Afghanistan and not all was terrible, Turkmenistan is a whole different type of place but after 8 months here I am finding things to do...caught a catfish yesterday out of a irrigation canal not too far from the man camp I stay at then had a BBQ with one of my co-workers, not a bad way to spend the Sunday day off.

Shawn

 

The problem is, that many men are in a hurry to get the girls pants off - they don't know anything about her except that she looks pretty good. If she comes from a poorer family, these girls tell their family if they have a foreigner. But if you ask her first, what her family does, and if they are all working, then you wont have a problem. On the other hand, if she has around 10 brothers and sisters, who are not working, then you will have problems

 

I think some patterns are becoming clear. That as I surmised, many people who love Dumaguete don't live there. I'm not saying Dumaguete is bad or wrong, just that it has some issues that are not adequately addressed, but it isn't the only place that someone can point to! Look at Manila for a prime example.

I think satisfaction with Dumaguete may be higher for homebodies who would probably be just as happy if not happier in many places in the Philippines. If they were out and about 5 days out of seven in Duma, I think the satisfaction rating would dwindle. If one is just after the nightlife, yes the traffic dies down dramatically after 9pm. I like to build things and I would spend significant amounts of time in town during the day tracking down what I needed. I wasn't digging it. It took me quite awhile to find Rejoice Hardware (highly recommended). I kept asking locals where a hardware store was and they would tell me Robinsons, in the mall or downtown, Citi hardware, Builders, Polaris and so on and I wanted to tell them no! Where do poor people go who just need hardware and not expensive decorative crap? But I did finally find most of what I needed.

I know that a good part of what I found dissatisfactory about Duma is because I am not a homebody and I am not retired. The place I lived was nice enough, very nice really, but I have never been one to want to stay at home. I did not come to the Philippines to stay at home. Even when there is nothing to do, there is always something to see. I used to like the corny animated public service announcement commercials that said "Life! Be in it". After spending 3 days asking people and trying to find some cheap carbon steel hinges, not stainless, not bronze, not brass and finally finding them. I felt like Redhorse Grande "be in it!" I was pretty disgusted by the time I found them. I had literally asked half a dozen people. not where foreigners buy things, what if you were wanting to buy it, where would you go? This from my friends uncle who is a welder/ supposed auto mechanic and builds lots of stuff for people. What an a$$ kicking just to find the simplest things. I know where to find most of the things I would need there now, except a good mechanic ?(other than me) but the thrill has gone for me. It is what it is.

 

I don't know. Dumaguete doesn't seem as friendly to me as it does to you. I mean just look at the bile spewing hate against foreigners in the Negros Chronical? That got past an editor. This tells me it's pretty well accepted.

I will also reiterate that people who say they love Dumaguete? Many of them don't live there. There are reasons for that. As for having to drive 1.5 hours from Bacolod to get to a decent beach, with the quality of the roads there I could be all the way to Kabankalan in 90 minutes without pressing my luck. Iloilo is just a short ferry trip away also and I know people there and they tell me it is pretty reasonable cost of living there and they also have streets where you can drive and park cars.

True of city living just about anywhere, people may not be as friendly but I find it's on a case by case basis. I do find that they tend to stay out of your business more, maybe it's one of those give up something to get something deals? I will tell you this, Dumaguete was not designed to grow but it will keep growing anyway and it is going to choke. There is not enough money to expand the infrastructure and much of the historic parts of the city would have to be laboriously moved or bulldozed and lost. I take no pleasure in saying that. I have always said that Dumaguete's greatest asset is it's people but in the future is that going to be enough? I have been having a bit of conversation with a man who tells me he is going to settle on Dumaguete and buy his GF a house. He doesn't even know that Dumaguete is a city and not an island. I thought Duma was ok in 2013, I probably would have much preferred it in 2011. I'm fairly certain that I will not favor it in 2020. I don't get any joy out of knocking someone's city. I would think that if you wanted to preserve Duma as good as it is right now that you would be saying "You go Robert!" Because Duma is right now a 5 kilo bag with 7 kilos in it. By 2030, I expect it will be 10 kilos. I have no axe to grind, nothing to be made. The city was just not laid out to grow. I've lived other places where the streets were laid out for horse drawn wagons. I will say that they had the good fortune to NOT become capitol cities. They grew slower and had much more time to adapt and what used to be the town became the historic city center....surrounded by the rest of the city in military grid design. I don't see that happening in Duma. It won't have a chance to happen.

Just my opinion and you are welcome to yours and I wish you all the best and I'm glad you will be saved most of the growing pains since you are in Bacong.

 

Dividing the population of the city's (census 2012) by reported crimes I come to: Quezon one crime per 41 pers/population. Manila 30, Cebu 22, Davao 40, CDO 19, Baguio 12, Zamboanga 40, Iloilo 28, Gen. Santos 33 and Bacolod 36. This makes Quezon the safest and Baguio the worst place to be And the population density in Dumaguete is a strapping 3600 pers/square km , no wonder you guy's complain about traffic.

 

Dear Wrye83:

In my research for living around the world, there aren't many choices for folks to go to outside the US if they are under age 35.

Some nations can make exceptions to policy IF you are one of those "uber rich" folks and under age 35. In that case, those types of uber-rich "trust fund babies" and Facebook guys can go most anywhere they please.

But for the everyday, average US Jane or Joe under age 35, about the only thing I've found is using another nation's student Visa as a way to get one's foot in the door. In some countries, when you graduate with a degree that is recognized in the country you are using their student Visa on, some countries WILL convert that VISA to a residency VISA (temporary-permanent) -- you may get a job, have a skill that nation can use, etc., etc. In the research I've done, in most cases, converting to a temp/perm residency VISA is a step that has to be requested by the Student VISA holder -- it is not an automatic thing.

BLUF: The easiest way I've discovered for the non-millionaire, US Veteran and under age 35 crowd is to use the Post 9/11 GI Bill in your country of choice (which is of course, limited to the Schools that are already GI Bill approved - but there are several hundreds to choose from), and then go for a degree program that is "credentialed" (validly accredited) for that country. It is possible to get a dually accredited degree (US and country where one is attending). This can often open up the doors to residency in not only the nation where the student was attending and awarded that degree, but CAN also open up residency options to other nations as well (ASEAN/SCHENGEN agreement nations). This notion of having a regionally accepted degree appears to be gaining traction in the ASEAN nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).

*****

Here is a website a Post 9/11 GI Bill person can look at which lists countries that have branch campuses outside their nation. If the US Vet HAS to get a US accredited degree, look under the "Home Country" Column and you will see all the US educational systems that currently have a location in a "Host" nation. This site is updated regularly for add-ons/drop-offs.

» Branch Campus

Some locations WILL be limited to types of majors offered and levels of degrees offered (i.e., that location will offer a Masters or higher - or maybe offer a BA or BS in limited majors of study).

Once you find a school or two or three, then go to this website to see if you can use your GI Bill at that location. Remember, there are several hundreds of foreign schools around the world that are already GI Bill approved -- and yes, you can apply to have your field of study approved if it is not already approved -- but that takes time for the VA to go through the approval process).

WEAMS Public

*****

Wrye83, I'm just putting this bit of information out here as I don't know if this is something you have an interest in or not. But I do know this GI Bill card can be a card to play that a lot folks have in their hands, but are not told or realize/recognize the "Wild Card" value it can truly become if played wisely.

*****

As an aside, I did my research on Guam. It can be an expensive place to live (rent)! The upside to Guam for the US Vet is that one can use the VA system there. As a US territory, Medicare is usable. If you're a military retiree with retiree ID card, you have access to lower cost groceries, medical care, gasoline, "Space A" travel - all that regular stuff you get as retiree "perks" can be had on Guam.

If you want to use your 9/11 GI Bill in Guam, the housing subsidy is at 2,450 USD p/month for full-time attendance (19,600 USD tax-free per 8 month school year). About 15,680 USD tax free if attending at 3/4 time status (the VA has to pay out at 80% of full-time rate if you are attending at 3/4 time as the VA has to "round up" to the nearest 0 percentile - so 75% attendance rate become 80% for subsidy pay purposes). Plus, you get many, many choices for majors/minors and get a US recognized degree. AND, you're a short hop back to the Philippines (regular flights).

There is a PNB branch in Guam and the world's largest K-Mart is there, too (who would have thought?).

V/R,
nwlivewire

 

Completely off topic and pie in the sky....I would choose Kerala in India. Gorgeous beaches, great food, a 97% literacy rate, relatively crowd free (unless in the big cities) etc etc. The lakhshwadeep islands are are just a shortish boat trip away for diving etc etc. Health tourism is big there too..modern high tech hospitals purpose built for which ailment ails you. Wildlife parks abound and the culture is simply amazing.

The drawbacks? Kerala has been taking a stand against alcohol in recent years and so the old falling down juice becomes a slight problem. You can't own land, the rents can be high in the cities and a residency visa is expensive. It gets hot in the months leading up to the monsoon too...so I am happy in Dumas surrounds. It has its problems sure, but for a semi retired gent like me it's perfect. A run once or twice a week for supplies then back to ye olde domicile to watch the world go by. In all the years here I haven't had a problem that could not be solved with a cup of coffee and a civilised discussion. Not many places in the world I could name that has that sort of attraction.

C

 

Sure would like to go fishing sometime. I brought a lot of fishing line (different sizes), hooks (different sizes, and some with steel leaders), and some different size rods, back from the USA over 1 year ago. But, still haven't been able to go fishing yet. I just haven,t been able to find anyone that likes to fish, and has a boat.
I live about 2 hours North of Dumaguete, but it is an easy drive (except rush hour).
Send me a private message, and maybe we can work something out.

 

So Dumaguete is too expensive? Try Nepal

The Cheapest Places To Live In The World - 2016

The author of that site is not a fan of Philippines and gives many other options. As to Philippines, he says: