I lived in Cebu for about two months and Manila for a little less than a month.

The cost of living is pretty similar, Cebu might be pennies cheaper.

I travel quite a bit, and unless you're use to it the food selection in Cebu is poor, but cheap. There's some decent places mentioned earlier in this thread, but I got sick of going to the same three place. Avg. meals will run you $10 and taxis are cheap. You can get almost anywhere in Cebu for $5 and most places for $3. Plus you can take jeepy(ghetto bus) for 15 cents.

The internet is OK. Smart Bro broadband wireless works v well in Cebu. I never timed out with it. But the internet in most apartments will be less reliable because of black/brown outs when the power goes out for the whole area. That happens once every two weeks.

Night life sucks. But that might be because I'm use to Vegas/LA/NY. There are two main clubs, that are pretty small, and only get packed on sat.

I recommend:

You can find cheap rooms at the crown regency down town (50ish) online at the right times if you look hard enough

Anzani - for dinner

Shangi-la for the beach/pool/buffet

How far is the closest golf to Makati? Approx cost of a round?

Any progress here?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/39...er-pad-828794/

It's above my budget. Wondering if anyone wants to do it on a smaller scale.

Well Manila Golf is in Makati but very exclusive you would have to know a member to play. I think green fee would be around 3k.

Villamor is in Pasay (15-30 mins depending on traffic), its one of the better public courses. green fee is around P1,000.

Philippine Navy is a little closer in fort bonifacio but not as nice.

rates might be different for tourit though.

If your staying in a hotel, the concierge may have connections to get you on the nicer private courses.

happy golfing

I kind of differ on some of this although this is how i thought when i first lived here, there are some excellent restaurants out here as long as you aren't looking for western food which i will admit is weak across the board here. I had to look around eat alot of different dishes and try new things/spots until I found some places I really enjoyed. Variety ill agree isnt as big as some places but there are some types of food that are done very well here and can be surprisingly cheap sometimes.

If you have the privilege of having a fresh lechon hand turned style cooked over a open flame I swear it will be one of the most amazing pork dishes you ever had (if you watch No Reservations Philippines they made it a point to stop in Cebu for the Lechon) and there is also a wide selection of different spanish, korean and other mixed style restaurants here. The filipino barbeque can be great and certain places can prepare some very unique styled dishes with cooking styles mixed from all over asia but I can admit most everyday cheap filipino that the locals eat can be bland since its usually going to be quite cheap vs places that put out better quality dishes for a somewhat higher price. I can post more info and ill probably post some more observations I have had about staying here later.

Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

Weather
The weather here, one of the reasons I moved here, is better than in NY. It's hot here and sometimes it gets quite humid but I usually stay in my airconditioned room or ride in an airconditioned taxi or spend time in an airconditioned mall, so it's usually not a problem. I'd much rather have hot weather than cold weather.

I remember some days it was so cold, I would waste an hour getting out of my warm bed and into the shower. It was so brutal having to walk to the bathroom, wait for the water to heat up, and dry myself off in the bitter cold. I'm so glad that I don't have to do that anymore.

Trade-offs
There's a lot of stuff wrong here. The poverty sucks, the education system sucks, the government sucks, the traffic sucks, etc. But what many people don't realize is the sad reality that some of these problems are allowing them (myself included) to live in luxury.

I'll try to elaborate on this in the future as it's pretty complicated, but I'll just say now that I'm okay with the trade-off: I don't mind tolerating a few inconveniences to continue living comfortably here. Some people can't tolerate the problems and they leave.

With that said, I should say Manila is not for everyone.

Poker Skills are Useful
I think living here requires certain personality traits: anyone thinking about living here should be patient, resourceful, motivated, and have good reads. Basically have all the traits of a good poker player.

Personally I've needed:
-patience with people and for when things take a while to get done.
-resourcefulness to find stuff I need (condo to rent, great food, girls, etc.)
-motivation to get things done here, and a LOT of motivation to meet girls.
-good reads to figure out who's trying to take advantage of you (for foreigners, this is probably the most important trait to have).

Luckily I played a decent amount of live poker before starting to travel, and after spending enough time with people trying to take my money, it wasn't too hard adjusting to life here.

$1500
For those of you curious about expenses: up until last month, I was spending about $1500 a month not including travel.

The breakdown:
$650 Rent
$400 Food & stuff for my apartment
$100 Utilities
$80 Internet and cable TV
$20 Phone load
$50 Gym membership
$40 Taxis
$50 Visa extensions, on average
$50 Massages
$100 On girls and going out
--------------
$1540 total

About the same every month, more or less. As I mentioned before, I live a very comfortable life.

I know many retired expats live here quite well on a $1000 pension. In the States that would be peanuts but here they have cheap food, booze, cigarettes, massages, and can have a new girlfriend every week. For some that is paradise.

I think theoretically speaking I could live on $200-250 per month if necessary. I might try it some day just to challenge myself.

Retiring in the Philippines
As I mentioned in a previous post, I've traveled all around Asia looking for the best place to live. Well, since I can't find a better place than Manila I'll probably retire here, hopefully 2-3 years from now.

People ask me, "wouldn't you get bored?" Like I said in Part 1, there's a lot to do in Manila, a lot of skills I want to acquire (freediving, Muay Thai, BJJ, boxing, golf, tennis) and a lot of skills I want to improve (swimming, scuba diving, fitness in general). Between those and going on trips, seeing new places, and meeting new people, I don't think I would get bored.

I'm looking to trade FTP $ for cash (either pesos or dollars). I can offer a 3% vig.

Is there anyone live here in Manila that can do this, anywhere from a few hundred $US up to 4 figures? I can bring my laptop and do the transfer right in front of you, or I have references here if we haven't met yet.

Very nice write-up Paul, very appreciated.

After looking around for apartments in Makati it looks like Rockwell gives both high standard and good value compared to flats around Greenbelt such as Greenbelt Parkplace etc. Would you agree?

What would people say are the pros and cons living in Rockwell vs the Fort, Greenbelt and other places in Makati?

Regarding tennis, is Makati Sports Club to place to go or are there other good tennis places around? What about private lessons (prices/locations)?

Big earthquake in Minandao, hope any guys out there are ok.

Greenbelt is good if you work in CBD. I've seen a lot of units in this area (Greenbelt Residences, Greenbelt Radissons, Asian Mansion, Prince Plaza I/II, BSA Tower) and I think the rent in that area is too high for what's offered.

The Fort is good if you have a car and have a lot of "sosyal" friends who you meet up with every weekend. I also feel that the Fort is overpriced.

Rockwell is good because it's quiet, safe, posh and really convenient.

hey, paul. your place looks cool and 650$ affordable for me . could you give some more infos about your apartment, like sqm and pictures of the interior? actually im looking for smth. myself atm. around 500$, 30-40sqm would do and in a good area, i'd appreciate any help

FYI

wat

Not entirely sure about this since I've never lived in the Fort, but from the times I've gone to the Fort to eat, I got the impression that it's pretty hard to get a taxi unless you're on one of the main streets (32nd Street, or by Serendra/High Street).

I'd be curious to hear Tyrese Sebastian's experience on the matter. I think he takes taxis quite regularly since he shops for groceries at S&R (I think) and works out at Fitness First, both of which are a pretty far walk from his place.

Unrelated: I missed the discussion about having a job here. I think it is true that it's hard for a foreigner to get a job without a special skillset/resume, whereas in Thailand/EastAsia there's always a demand for English teachers. But I do think there is a lot of money to be made here. Someone with an entrepreneurial mindset could do very well in the BPO industry here.

IMO though, one of the best ways to make money here as a foreigner is in real estate. However it requires a decent chunk of change to even get started and in the Philippines it can oftentimes be much riskier than other methods of investing.

I guess you mean buying condos and renting them out? It seems like that is the only way to do real estate in the Philippines by yourself as a foreigner since foreigners can't own land, unless you mean investing in a company that does development projects, either buying shares of a public company or co-investing with a local on some kind of development (not sure what legality issues would arise here)?

I have a house and lot here, as far as the foreigner owning land thing than yea you would need to be part of a company allowing foreign investors and that was also give you a visa for anything besides condo's or apartments. If your married to a filipina you can get the property in both your names as a conjugal property (link here with some info http://www.kasal.com/html/rr/thelaw/thelaw15.html) Of course not everyone wants to get married here and this takes a high amount of trust in who ever you do decide to marry since they will be entitled to 1/2 of it.

Has anyone ever had any success making a withdrawal from Full Tilt to any Philippines bank?

I have an HSBC savings account and I know you can withdraw from Stars to HSBC Phils, but I have no money on Stars. FTP requires you to input a routing number for the bank you're withdrawing to, and HSBC only has a SWIFT code (letters) and not a routing code (numbers). Some other local banks (BPI, for example) have aba routing codes, and I now have an ACR which I think makes it possible for me to open an account.

Hey Paul B., how old are you?

Looking to possibly go to the Philippines in the next few months looking for any ssnl+ players to either split an apartment/rent house for 2-3 months. I'm not 100% set on Philippines but will be following this thread, from what I've read sounds like it could be fun. If interested pm me.

Also forgot to mention 21 year old 200-600nl FR player.

Great thread!

I'm 100% Filipino myself, born and raised in Michigan. Prior to my last visit this past May, I hadn't been there since I was 10 ... a span of about 20 years. Having been born and raised in the US, you grow accustomed to a certain way of life and didn't really enjoy my visit 20 years ago. That all changed after my last visit and want nothing more than to go back ... maybe even permanently. It's quite amusing to have read through most of this thread and see names of places that I visited just a couple months ago.

My question is, specifically ... what are some of the "obstacles" involved in moving to another country ... whether it be for a few months and/or permanently? Most notably - visa's (do i need a special visa), banking (is it possible to open an account there and are they "online poker friendly"), and whatever else you think may be relevant...

Thx in advance! I've bookmarked this thread!

edit: read thru some of the pages I had skipped since the thread was so long and found some answer. However, any help in regards to my question would still be appreciated ... in case things are different now.

The main obstacles are just putting up with the differences in culture and the downsides that living in a third world, tropical country. These include pollution, awful traffic, and huge cockroaches. Also, even if with the right connection poker, surfing, and downloading are all fine, for most people videos and music will not stream.

On the plus side, you have hot girls that are easy to get (yes I know in an earlier post I said that even though my quantity of girls was fairly high my % success rate was low but w/e), beautiful beaches that aren't too far away, and a very luxurious lifestyle for cheap.

Regarding the more technical things, visas are easy. You just get in w/a ticket out (can be an $80 ticket on tiger airways to singapore), they stamp you for 21 days, and every so often you go to immigration and pay some small amount (I think $50/month?).

Banking is fairly easy also, and I've had no problems with online poker which is legal in the Philippines http://www.************advisory.com/...egal-42626.htm, and since I'm feeling generous I'll write out something comprehensive.

First thing to do is open up an account in hsbc in USD (you don't need an Alien Certificate of Registration) or citibank (you do need an ACR). Then it's worth noting a few things:
-Pokerstars, party, cake, and absolute will wire money to this account if the address you have on file with them is a Philippine one. In the case of absolute and cake they may even do it with a non-Philippine address (not sure).
-FTP will not wire money to a Philippine bank, so your option would be a check which would take forever to get to your place and forever to clear at HSBC or to just send the money to your account in your home country, and then pay the international wire fee to send it to HSBC from your home country.
-Ipoker will not work without a VPN, although they will wire to a Philippine bank
-my Philippine HSBC debit card did not work for depositing on AP or entropay (not sure why)
-most of these sites will allow a bank wire from your HSBC account as a deposit option
-neteller and moneybookers will only work with a vpn afaik, and you cannot use a Philippine address to setup a neteller/moneybookers account

Rockwell is the only place afaik where it will be easy to get a three month lease and not get a pre-existing internet plan (which is usually a terrible one since it will be the cheapest), however it is also a very high end place to live and is where the building you saw in my original ssnl fr manila post was. DO NOT get skycable, which is the ISP owned by the family that owns Rockwell so the ISP they try to get you to sign up for in Rockwell. Instead, get Globe (everyone who has had it told me it is very reliable) or PLDT. Globe is usually much quicker to install.

Can't find the post about Golf but I have played at the Navy Course and enjoyed it alot. I was staying at Howzat in Makati and it was a 15-20min taxi drive to the fort.

Rounds of golf at public courses are around 1250-2000 PHP. But you then there are additional costs Hiring clubs (500) Caddy Tip (500) Umbrella Girl (500).

I played in Jan or feb of this year when it was pretty dry and the grass teed the ball up beautifully on the fairways. I don't know what the courses will be like now when they are subjected to a lot of rain.

can anyone confirm this? if it only works with vpn how much trouble is to be expected? (from the law and ipoker themselves)

i used moneybookers in pi to cashout to my banking account which worked fine and as far as i remember withdrawing from poker sites worked as well, just depositing wont work.

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I'm half filipino myself and have dual citizenship. this question might sound stupid, but for me moving to the pi shouldnt be a problem, right? the last time i stayed with the 21day visa which i extended twice to a few months, cuz my old filipino passport expired long ago ^^. i assume i just have to get a new one?

Yes, if you got dual US/Philippino citizenship then you don't need a visa at all in PI. Just re-new your PI passport at the PI embassy in the US before you head over and use that to enter PI.