Well, yes, I could surf for hours on the net, buy some lonely planet books and collect zillion different opinions.
Company plans posting me in Manila,( Ortega area) in the next 2-3 months.
in my humble opinion, a downside after 5 years on the Rock, but some of you fine Forumosans might have other thoughts if you lived there?
We will for sure move after the elections, thus following spins cross my brain:
It is not as safe, and especially not for ymy2 good looking ladies (wife an 18 YO stepdaughter)
Traffic in the capital is worse than Saigon (which was crazy indeed)
beware of robbers - kidnappings
Use a guard and at least 1 maid you can trust to survive
Medical urgency? Get the hell out ASAP --> overseas.
The people? very friendly, but friendly is not always for free.
and last but not least “bring a bullet proof jacket”
You see ,a lot of pre-judgments, a lot of questions. Any thoughts - recommendations would be very appreciated
I am sure Maoman will shake his head, thus this is not a holiday, but a next 36 to 60 months assignment
Do they have something similar there as Forumosa? Found a few links, but most are old news…
I know someone that lives there and I’ve been there a couple of times. Sure, there are some really rough neighbourhoods, but if you live near the greenbelt I think you’ll be plenty fine.
Upsides include the vast selection of good European and US food (there’s a fantastic tapas place in the greenbelt shopping district) and the weather seems to be somewhat better than here. The shopping malls also have a greater selection of wares in general and then there’s Krispy Kreme 
My mate is quite happy there and he came directly from Oz with nothing much to compare with, although he’s there by choice (because of a girl) and not because he has to be there.
I grew up in Manila, and I visit often - several times a year. I agree with much of what you posted, but why would you say this: [quote=“ceevee369”]Medical urgency? Get the hell out ASAP --> overseas[/quote]
… especially given the number of Filipino doctors, nurses, and med techs who staff hospitals across Europe and North America. You will be staying in Ortigas Area, so you will be close to Medical City (now considered the 2nd best equipped hospital in the country) and a hop away from Cardinal Santos (popular among the (very) wealthy Chinese community in Greenhills and Wack-Wack)
And where would you go overseas to? Please don’t say Singapore - very highly over-rated. Sure, they have the equipment, but the training of the doctors there is no better, and surprisingly worse than elsewhere in the region, especially Manila. And again, the best med techs and nurses are from the RP. My sources are friends and classmates who have practiced there and who have had family members in hospitals there.
Going overseas from Manila for healthcare is a pet peeve of mine - disclosure: I’m from a family of practicing physicians in the Philippines (they are based in MakatiMed, the erstwhile top hospital in the country). Finding good healthcare is a challenge everywhere in the world. Unfortunately, you need to have confidence in the health practitioner. If you are not a native Mandarin/Taiwanese speaker, I expect you will prefer speaking to the doctors and healthcare staff you will meet in Manila compared to here.
[quote=“ceevee369”]Do they have something similar there as Forumosa? Found a few links, but most are old news…[/quote]Not for English speakers. Since getting around in English is pretty easy there, there isn’t the same need as English speakers in Taiwan or China to help each other out. I’d recommend checking out clickthecity.com for recommendations where to eat, and look out for the free weekly Expat/What’s On newspaper.
I just thought of a forum in the Philippines that is kinda like Forumosa: tsinoy.com
The word “Tsinoy” is a portmanteau of the words Tsino (Chinese) and Pinoy (Filipino). I had never heard anyone use the term in real-life before I heard of the website 10 years ago. Like Forumosa, it is primarily a discussion forum, mostly in English. I have tried to forge links to them with Forumosa, but they have never shown any interest.
Thanks again Swedish Goose & Lost Egg for the heads-up .Will look into your references for sure !
Alabang (30 minute drive from the Makati business district) is as nice a place to live as you will find in Asia. Western style houses, shopping and neighborhoods, golf, tennis, even polo (the sport).
images.google.com/images?um=1&hl … =0&ndsp=18
What’s all that questioning … you loved Vietnam … you’ll sure love Manila … jeepnies, ballut … cheap rum … beer … traffic jams … diving … girls … Goldie Locks, birthday cakes … and more 
oh, English and some Spanish will get you around … no sakit ng ulo to worry about, unless you drink too much rum … have fun man … 
Well, Vietnam was awesome…being there own my own , thus Manila means taking responsibility about my loved ones, so no Rum , beer, girls, etc.
But diving (as in real diving into water ) remains hehe ! 
BP, you remember, my first year in TW was not the best, crying out loud i wanted to leave, but 5 years later, I am damn gonna miss the place.
I will rant a year in the Philippines and most likely regret leaving after 4 years. Vicious circles they are
[quote=“Deuce Dropper”]Alabang (30 minute drive from the Makati business district) is as nice a place to live as you will find in Asia. Western style houses, shopping and neighborhoods, golf, tennis, even polo (the sport).
images.google.com/images?um=1&hl … =0&ndsp=18[/quote]
Nice, but the office is in Pasig City, North-East of Makati… too far
Finding a safe area to live without having the “golden cage” feeling will be the priority.
30 minutes? Rush our traffic or not?
CeeVee -
Ditto to what GooseEgg said about hospitals and Drs in the PI. Excellent by any standards. Put your worries about this to rest.
I envy your posting. The PI rocks. I think you & your family will enjoy it very much.
Good Travels to Ya!
[quote=“ceevee369”]Nice, but the office is in Pasig City, North-East of Makati… too far
Finding a safe area to live without having the “golden cage” feeling will be the priority.[/quote]
Have you considered The Fort area? Lots of new buildings going up there. St Luke’s Medical Center just opened a new branch there. My alma mater high school is there (ISM) as is the British School. Lots of shopping and eating. And taking C-5 sneaks you into the back of the Ortigas area.
OK, granted, getting around in Manila is a major pain in the neck. It’s partly why I usually advise friends visiting the beaches in the RP for the first time to skip Manila altogether. If I was going to move to Manila and wanted to live relatively close to Ortigas, and I didn’t find a condo in Ortigas Center that I liked, I would focus my search on homes here:
Wack-Wack (nice big homes)
Corinthian (lots of generals and colonels live there)
Greenhills (the shopping area there seems to be 3 times the size of what I remember growing up)
The Fort (as mentioned above)
The first 3 are gated communities for the elite. I bet there are interesting values over at Blue Ridge and Libis, so ask your agent about those areas if you are daring. Libis has Eastwood City (lots of food there) and Blue Ridge gets you over to Katipunan where Ateneo and UP are (should you consider trying to enroll your kids in local schools)
That’s gotta be at 2am 
If you take the Skyway, then maybe (a BIG maybe) you can do it in 30 mins, but you would be very very lucky, and I would never schedule a meeting in Makati if my previous one was in Alabang 30 mins before it. You are probably forgetting traffic getting from Alabang commercial area TO South Superhighway, and discounting the traffic FROM the highway TO wherever you are going in Makati
[quote=“Goose Egg”]
That’s gotta be at 2am If you take the Skyway, then maybe (a BIG maybe) you can do it in 30 mins, but you would be very very lucky, and I would never schedule a meeting in Makati if my previous one was in Alabang 30 mins before it. You are probably forgetting traffic getting from Alabang commercial area TO South Superhighway, and discounting the traffic FROM the highway TO wherever you are going in Makati[/quote]
yeah, I guess you are right, I am thinking highway time from Alabang to the intersection where you turn into the business district by the Intercontinental Hotel. Once inside that area traffic is wicked bad. I was in PI a couple of months ago though, and they have finally completed a lot of the elevated highways and it makes the commute much smoother. Especially from the airport to Makati.
Very valuable info regarding housing GooseEgg ! I forward your post to Santa Fe whom will take care of everything.
Thus, Fort area might be first consideration, or north from Ortigas in the old Camp… keep you posted , or will send a PM for your further advice.
Again, thumbs up mate 
Well, we’re set to go for some house-hunting as from this Sunday.
They provided me a few options, but not or non in Bonifacio fort though :
- in Makati district : houses in Dasmarinas area and condo’s in Rockwell Area
- in Taguig; some condo’s…as Plaza tower, Regent Parkway ,Corinhian garden etc…
Goosegg, is the C5 from Makati to Ortigas an easy drive, or the 5 km/hour snail way , is it worse to live in taguig or better vs. Makati?
Preparation and planning is half of the work done upfront
Edit:
Trip went very fine. Most likely that “PPT” will be our new save haven.
Meanwhile, I already saw the beaches on Bolinao and can assure that Pinatubo is still asleep.
Counting down. Life looks indeed great. Do envy me 