For those of you who live outside of Manila do you guys still get swarmed by local children? I was at the mall to get my cell phone repaired when I got ambushed by these highly curious little titans. Haha

I’ve never watched his content because it’s always been focused on how the Philippines is this perfect paradise without really showing a balance of the negatives (although that’s changed recently)

But he seems to have really gone downhill lately. His dad was allegedly scammed out of ~$1 million USD and is now looking for a Filipino job, he posted about being beat up by a security guard without providing a lot of context, and now his girlfriend has left him and he’s demanding money back from her and humiliating her online by posting about how her private parts smell (the audio attached to the story). From the girl’s post, it sounds like he was the reason she abruptly left.

Of course none of us can say for certain what happened, but I’m starting to get weird vibes from this guy.

Lastly, I’m not a lawyer, but this is a good reminder for us foreigners that we need to be careful about what we post online while in the Philippines. The cyberlibel laws here (RA 10175) are stricter than what we may be used to.

100k is scrap change in Pesos and publicly posting about drama and throwing cash in the floor and drinking just shows you reality of why i dont like vlogging life. The CPM revenue isnt as good for vloggers and constant need for good footage made wrong or not is a huge issue

I've been reading some posts lately here in This sub and honestly it's quite funny how expats can get delusional with their expectations and entitlement. Like the Philippines is an actual nation with its own problems just like their own. Did expect a developing nation to have first world level of accommodations and complain about it being different. It's a different country mate what did you expect a free sex fest where your currency decides what happens with cheaper accommodations nope. It's an actual nation struggling with its own problems both good and bad.

And before you go here just to complain do your research and it will save you a lot of time and money. Instead of going to Reddit and complaining.

Lately there's been some hardcore inflammatory expat posts and now there's multiple ph expat subs.

A lot of these accounts have super generic names and hidden post histories. It makes me wonder how much of it is authentic vs troll/botting. If I was a hostile foreign nation I'd probably want to poison people's opinions of eachother with bots.

Anyway, I love the Philippines. No where is perfect, but I absolute love it. Overall I love PH and I like making people's days better here.

That's part of the responsibility as a traveler or retiree. You have extra time and patience to have perspective. Every interaction makes someone's day a little better or worse which changes their emotional state and when people are in better emotional states it passed moved forward.

I’m an American, happily married to a Filipina for nearly 14 years, and we’ve lived in the Philippines for four.
When I happen to share an elevator or have some other brief encounter with another American man here, we rarely speak. And I mean rarely. Even when we seem to recognize each other as fellow Americans, there’s often barely any eye contact.

Have other Americans here noticed this?

I ask because when my wife and I are in the US, especially San Francisco, her encounters with fellow Filipinos can go quite differently. Once someone recognizes her as Filipino, they’re perfectly comfortable getting right into her business:

Are you Filipino?
Is this your husband?
Where do you live?
How many children do y’all have?
How long have you been married?
Where do you work?
What are your plans while you’re here?
And the list goes on.

Meanwhile, back on the elevator with my fellow American…

Crickets.🦗

I’m curious about the difference. Is it cultural? A preference for privacy? Something about Americans living abroad? Or is my experience different from yours?

What have you noticed, and why do you think it happens? TIA!

I wanna get one for work but trying to find a very good deal. It seems most are overpriced or just budget cafe ones. Trying to find one like RTX 4080 Super for 200k more but a good price

AMERICAN FACING TRAFFICKING, RAPE RAPS

LOOK: A 59-year-old American national, who is a retired investor, is facing several criminal charges, including human trafficking, rape, illegal detention, and drug possession.

This was after a 15-year-old girl, who was allegedly held for sexual exploitation, and 8 other women were rescued by the police inside the American's rented condominium unit in Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City, on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Police said they would file the cases against the American today, October 15.

Knowing that the Philippines is on the ring of fire, and the level of general corruption, how confident are you that the condo you reside in is up to code for earthquakes?

Title

And for that reason, not viable.

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m conducting a small market survey to understand the preferences of non-native English speakers currently living in Cebu who are interested in improving their English through ESL classes.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the following questions:

1. Preferred class hours: Would you prefer 4, 6, or 8 hours of English lessons per day?
2. Budget: How much would you be willing to pay per month for English classes only?
3. Learning goals: What would you like to study? For example:
   • Beginner English (A0–A2)
   • Intermediate English (B1–B2)
   • Advanced English (C1–C2)
   • Conversational English and speaking confidence
   • Business English
   • English for work, travel, or daily life
   • Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, and writing
4. Preferred schedule: Would you prefer morning, afternoon, or evening classes? Weekdays, weekends, or a flexible schedule?
5. Class type: Would you prefer one-on-one lessons, group classes, or a combination of both?

A few important details:

• This survey focuses on tuition fees for English classes only.
• Accommodation and meals are NOT included because the target participants already have their own places to stay in Cebu.
• The goal is to understand what foreign residents actually need and what prices they consider reasonable.

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated and would help in planning ESL programs that suit the needs, schedules, and budgets of people already living in Cebu.

Feel free to comment below or share your suggestions. Thank you so much for your time! 😊

Hi all,

Moved here from Los Angeles four years ago. Currently late 20s/early 30s with dual income and no kids. Before moving, all I read on Reddit was how you can live like royalty on $1500/mo. Now that we're looking at our costs and planning for a child, we're confused. We're currently spending around $5K/mo in Makati CBD, far from the $1.5K number people keep talking about.

If we moved back to SoCal tomorrow, maintaining our exact standard of living would run us around $8k/mo, which we’re totally fine with. I guess I just didn't expect the 'Philippines discount' for a true Western baseline in Makati to only save us $3k/mo. It makes you wonder where the people claiming to 'live like royalty on $1.5k' are actually getting their numbers from.

After four years, I don't see how anyone is doing that without dropping their quality of life off of a cliff. My partner and I aren't trying to ball out, we're just maintaining a basic, comfortable SoCal baseline with walkable streets, breathing space, continuous AC, clean food, and some help around the apartment. Looking at schooling was rough too; sending a kid to school in the Philippines will add another $20K/year to match Western education standards.

Our monthly burn in Makati for 2 people (and no, we cannot move since we work):

• Rent: 130K (123sqm, 2bed, 2.5bath in Makati CBD) We needed centralized AC for our sanity
• Electricity: 16K
• Internet and Water: 4K
• Groceries: 40K (Santi's, Kitayama, S&R, Marketplace, Wet Market)
• Grab Food / Delivery Services: 20K
• Dining Out, Drinks, Coffee: 25K
• Live-out Helper: 8K
• Fuel / Tolls: 6K (Don't drive a lot, just errands and occasional trips)
• Health Insurance: 30K (Comprehensive for two)
• Car Insurance: 5K
• Misc: 10K

Total burn: 294K PHP / mo or around $5K USD

To be clear, this is just reproducing our life back in Los Angeles, and not extravagance.

When people claim they 'live like a king on 1,500' what does that actually look like? Are you all crammed into 28 sqm studios in Quezon City with a window type AC rattling on your face, eating street food, and taking tricycles through gridlock?

Where are you cutting costs without ruining your baseline comfort?

Where's the disconnect?

Going back to the states after this one

I miss bread in France so curious to see if there’s a boulangerie in the metro that sells something close!

What's your favorite hotel that you've stayed at in the Philippines and why?

For me it's the Conrad. There are nicer hotels but Conrad has the whole package the with the location in all. When I'm there purely for business Discovery Primera in Makati

​We were so tired from shopping yesterday and didn't know where to eat in greenhills. decided to try this place out and the beef marinade is actually really good.

​Instead of spending so much on one big dish for the family, getting korean style bbq with all the free banchan here felt way more worth it for us. the meats are seasoned perfectly. just sharing in case you need a spot that can fit a big group!👍

One of you is about to become my husband. i dont know who yet, but im sure he is somewhere here 🤗

All the blame cannot be placed on the government. Filipino pride and their toxic culture of being entitled to other peoples money, heavy gossip culture, and forget any honest work being done it seems in any deal or arrangement they haven’t won if they don’t get one over on the other party. Even if they are being treated fairly.

I mean it seems to me the friendly veneer wears off and I see the rot underneath. The country is stuck in the 1950’s because of the citizens toxic ways. You shouldn’t trust anyone here as a foreigner. Am I generalizing too much? I have seen some very dishonest things happening firsthand.