Choosing a place to live (expat)

[Old55]

2 hours ago, KurtVD said:

 

Absolutely, that’s what I want to do. 

Re: Boots on the ground: What’s the best way to get around to do that? Hire a taxi for the day? 

Talk to Filipino's and Expats you meet for ideas then take a cab. Or maybe you can find a cabdriver you like that is willing to drive you around at a set price. Something like that?

 

[scott h]

2 hours ago, KurtVD said:

Hire a taxi for the day? 

when and if you tour BF homes, just take tricycles, they are all over the place and the best way to move around

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, KurtVD said:

Re: Boots on the ground: What’s the best way to get around to do that?

In my opinion it is a literal phrase. "Boots on the ground", "Pound the Pavement", Walk, all mean the same thing.  I see 3 times as much by walking as I ever do by riding.  And I get exercise.

If I were in your shoes  I would find an area that looked like somewhere I would want to live and I would walk around looking for signs, asking people, looking in open doors and generally being nosy.  If that does not work for you, often there is a filipino in the area who will do exactly that, for a fee, and report back to you so you can limit the number of places you want to look at. 

[KurtVD]

7 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

In my opinion it is a literal phrase. "Boots on the ground", "Pound the Pavement", Walk, all mean the same thing.  I see 3 times as much by walking as I ever do by riding.  And I get exercise.

If I were in your shoes  I would find an area that looked like somewhere I would want to live and I would walk around looking for signs, asking people, looking in open doors and generally being nosy.  If that does not work for you, often there is a filipino in the area who will do exactly that, for a fee, and report back to you so you can limit the number of places you want to look at. 

 

8 hours ago, scott h said:

when and if you tour BF homes, just take tricycles, they are all over the place and the best way to move around

 

9 hours ago, Old55 said:

Talk to Filipino's and Expats you meet for ideas then take a cab. Or maybe you can find a cabdriver you like that is willing to drive you around at a set price. Something like that?

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I like to walk, and that is probably the best way to do it, or on a tricycle, however, due to my disability, I don't have as many "productive" days as I would like to have. I'll be better off paying a local to limit the number of places I have to go to, hopefully that will be easy to find. Now I'm about to decide if it will be this June or July - how about airfares and hotel prices? Are they going up in July? Because in June, they are really low, especially the airfare. 

[Old55]

Peak season starts soon goes through September.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Old55

[Gary D]

Also the rainy season has started, not a good time to visit the Philippines. Nov-May is the best time.

[Jollygoodfellow]

10 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If I were in your shoes

If that was the case then either Kurt will have sore feet from no shoes or you will do the walking for him 

[KurtVD]

On 5/30/2018 at 1:47 PM, Jollygoodfellow said:

If that was the case then either Kurt will have sore feet from no shoes or you will do the walking for him 

Luckily, sore feet won’t be an issue, since I own more than one pair of shoes (not as many as Imelda, though)

[KurtVD]

Hi all, 

since I had gotten a lot of helpful responses, here’s an update: I’m now staying in a split-level condo in Muntinlupa that I could rent for 10k/month, fully furnished (fridge, cooking gear, even a washing machine). For now though , I haven’t decided and pay a bit more, on a weekly basis. 

I quite like it, I’ll probably stay here for the first 6-12 months (eg I’ll do my trips to other parts of the country from here). It’s situated in the closed Waterfun amusement park, but it’s not an unsafe area, I haven’t seen anything that would deter me from going out, even at night, and the taxis/Grabs have no problems coming here. It’s pretty authentically “Filipino”, meaning  there’s lots of noise at times (dogs, roosters, music),  but no traffic noise or pollution. 

 

Opinions? :)

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

38 minutes ago, KurtVD said:

Opinions?

Sounds great.  What is a "split level condo?"  I have had split level houses before but I'm not sure why a condo would be like that.