(03-09-2019 07:29 AM)calwinston Wrote: Looks like this thread is having a slow death. Does anyone like the Philippines anymore?
I love it.
Swooped up a 20-year-old virgin and living with her in a temp condo in the city (not Makati), when I'm not ripping around banca boats (yup, I bought one) and motorbikes on smaller islands.
Manila is more and more livable every time I come back - the food and the nightlife constantly evolving in a better direction in both diversity and quality. Japanese and Korean food have taken the city by storm. Not to mention plenty of other great options. I still remember the days when it was tough to find a good burger or slice of pizza anywhere in southeast asia - not so anymore. Burger joints are a dime a dozen now and can even be found in small, relatively unnoticed cities.
You can find Michelin star restaurants in malls, of all places, with plenty of worthy competitors lined up beside them. And the Filipino food is even getting better, with more restaurants getting more ambitious and creative and giving the cuisine the treatment it needs to be done right. There are markets in various locations around the city with live music and food and drink on the weekends - everything from mexican food to burgers to traditional filipino fare (one of these I went to was in an outdoor park yet had free wifi).
Over all, it's easier than ever to live the equivalent of a 1st world lifestyle here.
Even areas like poblaccion, which for a long time was only known as a hooker area, have begun to evolve in a different direction. A few years ago if I told someone I was staying near Makati Ave, they'd look at me funny. Now doubt they would. All kinds of hip and trendy spots are popping up around there that are frequented by moneyed Filipinos and the younger european crowds. You won't find girls in those venues always begging to jump on your dick, but that doesn't mean you won't meet some lookers who are keen to hook up. Bringing your A game recommended.
The actual hookery joints, on the other hand, seem to be in a bit of a decline, much like those areas of Bangkok. A lot of the girls in p4p spots look ugly, are chubby, or have stretch marks. I think with the easy money and thirst online that scene dying out more and more around Southeast Asia. No skin off my back, though, and I welcome the day when living in these places doesn't come with a bunch of assumptions about what you're up to.
Right now I'm staying at one of these resort-inspired condo buildings that are becoming more prevalent in the cities. On one of the floors is a large outdoor park with multiple pools, a jogging trail, and lawns big enough to do sprints on. You can hear the traffic below, but it's still a very peaceful, clean, and well-lit place to relax at night - I try to get in some laps in the pool every morning when I wake up.
This is my second time living in the Philippines (one year back already) but it's the first time I've dated a Filipina with anything resembling sincere intentions - never felt like I could trust any of the others. But a solid, more traditional Filipina is a thing to behold.
My chick is not quite model material and could probably find myself a girl just as attractive anywhere. But she is cute and sexy enough to turn even local heads. Most importantly she has a femininity and devotion to her man that can only come from a Filipino upbringing.
She's currently learning to cook all my favorite dishes and apologizes profusely if she catches me rinsing a plate or doing anything similar. Is entreprenurial and learning to work out. She doesn't drink and thinks tattoos are gross on women. She's constantly in a cheerful mood and never starts fights over anything. She even insists on cutting my toenails and sings while she does it.
Last night I got a little lost and didn't come home until daylight...I wasn't with a girl but still kind of a dick move. She stayed up all night worried about me, yet instead of being angry she's been clinging to my arm all day saying she's glad to have me next to her. Indeed, my biggest concern in our relationship is making sure I don't take advantage of this type of devotion and tread all over her, which is something I'm obviously still struggling with. I do treat her pretty well, otherwise, all things considered, though. And we get along great.
I've had a lot of long-term girlfriends, and even in the states they treated me well, cooking and cleaning and acting like women. But no woman has ever treated me so well and so consistently as the one that I have now. And it's obvious how much of it was just due to Filipino parenting and culturally ingrained.
I feel like I'm leaning towards leaving my partying days behind me and thumping clubs are losing their appeal more and more. And for a more subdued lifestyle I think it's a great place to be. If you want to disappear on an island and build up your own slice of cheap paradise or live a cush and comfortable life in the city, I still think the Philippines has a lot to offer. I will probably do both. It will get a lot more expensive here as the country continues to move forward, but there are many other corners of the country to relocate to as that happens.
As for the online dating stuff, I never played around with it much even in its heyday. So maybe I just don't really know what I missed. I did meet my current online, though, so there's that. We also chatted for months and months before meeting, and I don't think most of you guys here are looking to do that or to get involved with a conservative woman and move her in the way I did.
To those who are, she wasn't the only young and attractive but conservative girl (or virgin) I chatted with online, so there are still many other quality ones out there if you're looking for that sort of thing. Girls in the heart of Manila of course have a lot more temptation in their face, though - mine was from a tiny island in the middle of nowhere and had been living in a very subdued small city the past couple years, working 6 days a week in a mall. They will, of course, have plenty other foreign and local men pursuing them online if they're attractive, so they are still aware they have options.
After over a decade of spending most of my time in Southeast Asia, easy puss and shallow interactions have been wearing me down for years, I guess, and while I kept going back and forth on the idea, in the end I guess it was time for something more substantial. I'll also be coming up on 40 in a couple years, and I think I could do a lot worse than having children with an old school Filipina when that time comes.
Anyhow, there are drawbacks and cultural quirks here that aggravate, but that's true anywhere. Overall, I really enjoy living in the Philippines and will probably home base here a while and see where the relationship goes. Thailand is still home to me but I got a little tired of the visa issues, and it will probably be trickier than ever living there with a Filipina in tow.
This place (all these places) will continue to change and some things I'll miss and others I won't. That's life and getting older and could be said about the place I grew up too.
Just thought an alternative perspective could be helpful. To each his own, and no reason to stay in a place these days if it makes you unhappy. But from where I sit, things are still pretty damn good over here. Most of the other guys I know who live here, in various social circles, wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I've noticed a lot of the long-termers who are still living in and loving places like Bangkok and Manila just don't seem to post in these threads much anymore.