# Help choosing best community with kids



## nanderson15 (Sep 9, 2015)

Hi... 

My husband has take a jobs in Manila and we, inclduing our children, will be relocating in January. 

My two kids are aged 1.5 and 4.. 

We are thinking Kings for our son for Prep however need to see both Kings and the British International before choosing... 

Our needs for our family are listed below and i would be so grateful if anyone can provide any info on where, how when may suit our situation best. 

We need a home with big backyard and pool 
Need to be close to hospital
Nursery / creche 
Relatively close to both prep schools mentioned above
Fire department close. 
nice green neighborhood eg parks for kids
most importantly the safest area to live. 

And anything else i may be missing??


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

nanderson15 said:


> Hi...
> 
> My husband has take a jobs in Manila and we, inclduing our children, will be relocating in January.
> 
> ...


I regret to say it but I think you will need to lower your sights a bit, I assume you haven't ever visited Manila. I would suggest your starting point should be 'where is your husbands job located'. You should then start looking around that area and see how many of those boxes you can tick. Any commuting in Manila is a complete nightmare and best be kept to a minimum.


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## HondaGuy (Aug 6, 2012)

Yes, a lot depends on where your husband's work is. If it is in Makati (as a lot of international jobs are), I would consider living in the Fort Bonifacio area. I dont know about the availability of houses, but there are LOTS of very nice condos available there with open green areas and swimming pools. One benefit of condo living is they should all have better security than a housing subdivision.

Amenities in the Fort:

- St Lukes Medical Center
- S&R Shopping Club
- Market Market
- British School
- International School
- Tons of restaurants
- Close to the airport but not TOO close

Good Luck!


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## nanderson15 (Sep 9, 2015)

hi there, 

my husbands office will be in Pasig? 

Is this far from good gated communities? 

He told me a horror story of traffic yesterday - 8 hr commute!


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

nanderson15 said:


> hi there,
> 
> my husbands office will be in Pasig?
> 
> ...


Pasig has been described as the most highly-urbanised area of Metro Manila.


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## HondaGuy (Aug 6, 2012)

If he is in the Ortigas Central Business District in Pasig, there are a number of nice condos there and his commute should be relatively short.
If you absolutely want a house, the closest are in White Plains and the Valle Verde subdivisions but those can be pricey.

Will your husband's company pay for a real estate agent to help him with the house hunting?


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## nanderson15 (Sep 9, 2015)

HondaGuy said:


> If he is in the Ortigas Central Business District in Pasig, there are a number of nice condos there and his commute should be relatively short.
> If you absolutely want a house, the closest are in White Plains and the Valle Verde subdivisions but those can be pricey.
> 
> Will your husband's company pay for a real estate agent to help him with the house hunting?



Yes husbands company are covering petty much everything so we have some flexibility.. 

My husband and I dicussed working back from where our kids will more than likely go to school... 

I really like the 'feel' ( as stupid as that sounds I have looked at some youtibe clips of dasmarinas... 

Our kids are outside kids and def need a big backyard so condos or apartments arent going to work for us. 

Dasmarinas had a nursery school for oour youngest which would be fantastic one or two days a week. 

Any idea how people source yayas and other help? I have no idea how this is all done

Is there any known mothers groups or threads on here for expat parents? 

thank you all for you continued help and advice - i appreciate it.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

The commute from Dasmarinas could be difficult to say the least as you are going to cross half of Manila to get there. If you want to stay out a bit is there anywhere around somewhere like Antipolo. Another concern with Manila is that certain areas flood badly so you would not wish to travel these areas on a regular basis.


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## nanderson15 (Sep 9, 2015)

Gary D said:


> The commute from Dasmarinas could be difficult to say the least as you are going to cross half of Manila to get there. If you want to stay out a bit is there anywhere around somewhere like Antipolo. Another concern with Manila is that certain areas flood badly so you would not wish to travel these areas on a regular basis.



Hmm. Ok. Ill look into that - im hoping to get over there in a month wothout the kids to look at communities etc. 

either way someone is going to have to do a long commute right? correct me if im wrong, but arent most of the international schools quite close to dasmarinas? I could be mistaken... 

Do you happen toknow which areas are most prone to flooding? 

Its such an anxious process. I have a new found respect? or admiration for people who migrate to new countries wothout family etc.
And we are dong it fully supported through a busines so imagine without that support!! CRAZY.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

For filipinos that live outside of Manila it is not unusual for them to bed space close to work and then go home for the weekends. Changing subjects completely, have you sorted out the visa arrangements for yourself and your children.


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## Nickleback99 (Aug 6, 2011)

nanderson15 said:


> Hmm. Ok. Ill look into that - im hoping to get over there in a month wothout the kids to look at communities etc.
> 
> either way someone is going to have to do a long commute right? correct me if im wrong, but arent most of the international schools quite close to dasmarinas? I could be mistaken...
> 
> ...


The best iternational school in PI is The International School in Manila by Ft Bonafacio area. It's where the embassy kis mostly go and I ve friends who were with kids there saying it compares to the one in Singapore which recognized pretty much as the top dog. Also about $12K or more per yr so hope your husband's work pays! Google map it and it will come up easily for you to see. You can also Google Brent School for Philippines as there are several around. Also a Brit Run international school in Manila, name escapes me.


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## Nickleback99 (Aug 6, 2011)

Nickleback99 said:


> The best iternational school in PI is The International School in Manila by Ft Bonafacio area. It's where the embassy kis mostly go and I ve friends who were with kids there saying it compares to the one in Singapore which recognized pretty much as the top dog. Also about $12K or more per yr so hope your husband's work pays! Google map it and it will come up easily for you to see. You can also Google Brent School for Philippines as there are several around. Also a Brit Run international school in Manila, name escapes me.


Also the elementary school price is less at ISM and I recall the Brent Schools being about half the cost.


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## Palawenio (Mar 4, 2014)

The village where we live: small, subsistence farming / fishing industry, everyone knows everyone, the kids know and play w/@ other everyday, walk together to the same public school, no real tuition required.
Lo and behold, the foreigners in the area who sent their kids to the big city, spent a good portion of their budget for tuition, transportation and such, upon seeing my child flourish and do well in our little elementary school, they became converts and they transferred their children to our "Little School In The Prairies" (hehe)


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## Billfish (Apr 13, 2013)

Hi Nanderson15

Welcome aboard!

I live and work in the area so may be able to help out a little. The commute from Dasmarinas/Fort to Ortigas is manageable if you leave home around 7am and leave the office around 5pm-5:15pm. This generally leaves you with a 15-20 minute commute. 

Even though it's nice I would avoid Vale Verde as even though it is very close to Fort your kids will be travelling in the direction of the traffic which at times results in long commutes (whereas you husband will be going against the flow).

All of Makati/Fort/Ortigas have high quality 1st world medical facilities so you are all right on that front. Fire departments are quite common in Manila, you are almost always near one, though they still have to fight the traffic to get anywhere.

All of these areas are pretty safe.

Have fun!


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## cvgtpc1 (Jul 28, 2012)

nanderson15 said:


> hi there,
> 
> my husbands office will be in Pasig?
> 
> ...



Coming to this late....every intl job I've had the company included a tuition allowance, does your husband's company do that?

The other expats in the office then recommended schools.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk


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