A Letye Forum???

[Dave Hounddriver]

As you get familiar with the folks on the forum you find that a large number are on the island of Cebu but not too many are in the actual city. Then there are a lot of us who used to live in Cebu or visit there for shopping and business. I would suggest this forum is good for anyone who has an interest anywhere in the Philippines with the added bonus of having quite a bit extra posted about Cebu.

[Mike S]

I agree Dave .... as my asawa and I are moving to Negros next year I will still remain on this board (sorry guys .... :mocking: ) and continue posting about what I find in Negros ..... a great many of the topics such as getting married ... 13a .... driver license .... purchasing a car ...... types of food ..... electronics .... etc can pertain to other parts of the Phils as well as the major players like SM ... Ayala .... Robinsons ..... Rustans and many many more are nation wide ... specific thinks like bars .... apartments and specialty shops may just apply to the local area

As to more expats in the Angeles and Subic area there maybe but if you take away the vacationers the real expat community can be smaller than you think ..... IMHO ..... we have members here from all over even from the Angeles area ..... Manila ... CDO ..... Negros ..... Leyte and many many other regions ......

[i am bob]

That is one of the things I really like about this forum...

It's really pertinent to just about anywhere in the Philippines!

Most other forums I looked at before I joined here were for specific areas. Some felt like they consisted of a bunch of drunk men sitting at different tables at the same bar posting each other. Others felt like they were a private club for only the wealthy or grouchy. A few were quite well done as well but this is the one where I found I could feel like I was talking with close friends or even family. To me, there is no better! Sure, sometimes I will go and look to see if there is any information going around that we haven't covered yet but I usually find that it's either (a) it's an old subject here and very well covered, or (b) it's a specific location only, or © it's somebody who didn't try to find the answer themselves for the simple stuff. I don't do this often but every couple months and it always reminds me of one thing - this is the BEST FORUM!

[Jake]

That is one of the things I really like about this forum...

It's really pertinent to just about anywhere in the Philippines!

Most other forums I looked at before I joined here were for specific areas. Some felt like they consisted of a bunch of drunk men sitting at different tables at the same bar posting each other. Others felt like they were a private club for only the wealthy or grouchy. A few were quite well done as well but this is the one where I found I could feel like I was talking with close friends or even family. To me, there is no better! Sure, sometimes I will go and look to see if there is any information going around that we haven't covered yet but I usually find that it's either (a) it's an old subject here and very well covered, or (b) it's a specific location only, or © it's somebody who didn't try to find the answer themselves for the simple stuff. I don't do this often but every couple months and it always reminds me of one thing - this is the BEST FORUM!

THANK YOU BOB!

This is the ONLY forum I subscribe to......it's like my daily read with a good hot coffee in the morning.

Sure, we had a few grouchy members who would post everything negative and they were eventually

shown the exit door (removed).

We may be the smaller one but it's the best active forum in town!

Respectfully -- Jake

[Papa Carl]

We have members from different parts of the Philippines, Cebu has a high number of expats so that's why there is more posts about Cebu. The others are scattered so for example if there are only say 100 expats living in a certain area and only two use the internet then you are not going to get many posts. As for what it says in the browser, it all about SEO, (search engine optimization) As above, more people search for the term Cebu so if I want the forum to be found I use that word but also if you look it is two terms, Philippines Expat guide- Cebu Expats Philippines Guide so it covers all of the Philippines. PM me if you wish for your money back.

Hey, if it is about SEO then you should certainly be putting Angeles or Clark in there. I'll wager a bet that more foreigners have heard of Angeles or Clark than they have of Cebu! Ha Ha.

But I know I know, I said I know. You don't want the kind of riff raff looking for information about Angeles to become members!!!! ha, just joking Bossman don't get upset. :devil:

I know that this forum is more "rounded" (take that however you want to Old55) not necessarily talking about our size!

I also know that any references to sex etc. are strictly monitored and controlled as this is not a sexpat forum (as seen by the name change) :hystery:

But seriously, I too thought when I first joined that this forum was primarily about Cebu, however having read through so many topic then realized that the majority of the comments and advise was just as valid where I was living as it was in Cebu.

Besides I would not want to have to be looking through even more topics to read the humour or advice given by the members.

So for me, I would leave things the way they are.

By the way, I would also put a small wager on the fact that there are more expats living in Angeles and area than in Cebu.

Papa Carl

[Old55]

I think you are right Papa Carl there are lots of Expats living in the AC area.

[Papa Carl]

THANK YOU BOB! This is the ONLY forum I subscribe to......it's like my daily read with a good hot coffee in the morning. Sure, we had a few grouchy members who would post everything negative and they were eventually shown the exit door (removed). We may be the smaller one but it's the best active forum in town! Respectfully -- Jake

I second that Jake!

Well said.

Papa Carl

[MikeeW]

I am a resident of Leyte and many of my queries are quite specific to that condition. I have lived here (and other places around the globe) long enough that I can offer some advice on general topics. I am glad to do that when I can as I am hopeful what goes around will come around.

It makes perfect sense to me why expats of all types would not be online posting if they lived in an area where they had others in their same situation. An online forum is going to be a lot more useful to those of us who have few places to go and chat about issues affecting us. If I were in another country where I would not be looked upon as an outsider, it would be easier to simply ask a neighbor or some other of the locals. Here, I find that the locals are unfamiliar with places, services, shopping, government offices or the like if it is further than 20 km from their homes. In effect, they solve problems locally or learn to live with what they have.

This concept extends to the merchants and others. If you ask online about some product or service, the answer is amazingly different than if you ask locally. The term "out of stock", a running gag here, is actually quite true in this area. Leyte, is at the end of a long supply chain. When a merchant says he is out of stock, he really is saying he can't get the item(s) as well as others can't get them.

Always is amusing to go to the local fruit and vegetable markets here. Each of the dozens of stalls will be selling various items like potatoes or tomatoes that all look surprisingly bad. If you look a little further, you'll see the truck parked just alongside the market where these items are provided by some distributor. When the truck is empty, "out of stock" is the word of the day.

For many members of a forum like this, shopping and services are more a matter of where you want to go get them. Which mall or market.

Silly example, but case in point. I use the Cebu consulate once in a while. To do so, I need to plan an overnight trip from Leyte. If I take the first fast ferry in the morning, I will arrive too late to enter the consulate. I'll need to come back the next day. I have adapted to this and make no complaint. But, for a local resident of Cebu, this is not an issue.

The way business gets done here is largely word of mouth. At least that is what I have discovered. I live not far from Ormoc City. A small shopping mall opened there up a while back, the Riverside Gaisano. In fact, it had been open for a many months (perhaps longer) before I knew it even existed. It is a nicer place to shop than in the city proper. Loads of parking, adequate shops and such. None of my neighbors knew of the place as they either didn't go to Ormoc much or simply went to the places they always went to. It was when we took a pot pot ride the driver asked "which Gaisano".....then we learned there were two.

Point of this missive is that I encourage the city members to share their experiences with the provincial members.