# lifestyle in cebu



## 888dino (Apr 22, 2014)

what are peoples opinions about living in cebu. buying an appt/ house. activities to do and pros and cons as opposed to manila.

thanks


----------



## 888dino (Apr 22, 2014)

is there a high concentrate area where expats are?


----------



## JRB__NW (Apr 8, 2015)

Lots of expats in Cebu City, especially in the malls, lol.. but it's a very congested and polluted place. Traffic is horrible and it takes an hour or two to get out of town if you go north or south. And the island itself is small so you can run out of things to do unless you're just chasing girls I suppose. Once you've been to Bohol, Dumaguete, Moalboal, Malapascua a few times, then what? I went up to Luzon to check things out and it was so awesome to drive on the expressway, ha ha.. Yeah, I'm bored.


----------



## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

Personal opinion, Manila & Cebu both too crowded for my liking. Love it out in sorsogon city big enough. Got good globe Internet,good satellite TV, great beaches hot springs and mountains around the province, small expat community, SM stores,and a great market. Very few asking me for peso when I'm out which is big plus.


----------



## 888dino (Apr 22, 2014)

JRB__NW said:


> Lots of expats in Cebu City, especially in the malls, lol.. but it's a very congested and polluted place. Traffic is horrible and it takes an hour or two to get out of town if you go north or south. And the island itself is small so you can run out of things to do unless you're just chasing girls I suppose. Once you've been to Bohol, Dumaguete, Moalboal, Malapascua a few times, then what? I went up to Luzon to check things out and it was so awesome to drive on the expressway, ha ha.. Yeah, I'm bored.


Sounds like a midlife crisis. chasing girls?? I wish. happily together with my partner... she doesn't like Boracay anymore so we are looking for a relocation and doing online business needs strong and reliable internet access so it is looking more than likely back to manila... i just thought maybe there were more options out there that i hadnt heard of. plus we are looking at buying a house or apt but need access to a plush billiard bar/room to fulfill the hobby needs. and playing in bamboo sheds is out of the question and I'm not allowed into the girly bars. what to do!! pffft


----------



## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

888dino said:


> Sounds like a midlife crisis. chasing girls?? I wish.


That's no mid-life crisis. You should see Angeles City. Not long ago I went to the VFW post in Balibago, Angeles City.
Right there, during the day, was a old guy that must have been at least in his mid 80's. He was being pushed in his wheelchair by two cuties that could not have been over 19! He even had an oxygen tank that was in operation while heading down the street with a HUGE smile on his face. Come to think of it,,, the two cuties were smiling too:confused2:. They should call Luzon - Fantasy Island instead!!


----------



## weereb (Dec 4, 2013)

How does one travel from Manila to Sorsogon ? looks a good place just looked it up via google


----------



## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

weereb said:


> How does one travel from Manila to Sorsogon ? looks a good place just looked it up via google


Only way I know of is how I did it several years ago several times. Only way is by bus. After Taal Lake area the road becomes two lane only. Narrow, winding, and very dangerous and driven by drivers equally dangerous. Distance is not that far but because of the condition of the road it takes over 12 hours.
Like I said, I made the trip (all the way to Bulan) several times and would not want to do it again.


----------



## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

We travelled from there to Manila about 3-4 years ago. From what I recall the road as far as Lagaspi was ok, but from Lagaspi to Manila the road was very slow due to roadworks much of the way. Just about every bridge was under reconstruction and a large length was broken up into large slabs like crazy paving, I assume before they were removed. 12 hours is about right.


----------



## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

weereb said:


> How does one travel from Manila to Sorsogon ? looks a good place just looked it up via google


I fly to legazpi then go to the grand terminal and take the UV express. But if your adventures you could take a 12 hour bus ride from Manila. How soon are looking at coming to take a look.


----------



## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

most of the road from legazpi to sorsogon is now reworked takes about 1 hour. and a little bit about sorsogon city there is one mall in process being built metro pacific mall. & the land is being cleared for robersons mall. and they all also in process of building the new legazpi international airport it is about half finished. and can say when I was coming out here many years ago it wasn't that good but it has inproved immensely over the last couple of years. sorsogon province was recently noted as one of the friendliest and top provinces of the philippines.
recently talked to another american that lives here in sorsogon for the past 3 years and he had lived in cebu and taclaban before. and he said this is philippines best kept secret he said by far it is nicer and more pleasant.
there is even a brand new high end resort just built in casiguran sorsogon. called recidencia Del Hamor 
www. recidenciadelhamor.com


----------



## weereb (Dec 4, 2013)

Returning to Philippines next year and not made any real plans of where to travel to. I am retired and have plenty of time. Just been browsing and viewing posts and suggestions. Thanks for your details


----------



## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

weereb said:


> Returning to Philippines next year and not made any real plans of where to travel to. I am retired and have plenty of time. Just been browsing and viewing posts and suggestions. Thanks for your details


Give me a shout if you ever plan on a visit to sorsogon


----------



## ROUNDHEAD1952 (Aug 18, 2014)

weereb said:


> How does one travel from Manila to Sorsogon ? looks a good place just looked it up via google


just drive south buddy, i have done it many times, count on a 14 hour trip, some roads are pretty rough


----------



## MR2 (Oct 3, 2013)

Jet Lag said:


> That's no mid-life crisis. You should see Angeles City. Not long ago I went to the VFW post in Balibago, Angeles City.
> Right there, during the day, was a old guy that must have been at least in his mid 80's. He was being pushed in his wheelchair by two cuties that could not have been over 19! He even had an oxygen tank that was in operation while heading down the street with a HUGE smile on his face. Come to think of it,,, the two cuties were smiling too:confused2:. They should call Luzon - Fantasy Island instead!!


I love seeing that stuff here. I never see it back home. 

There are many places to visit here too if you are the adventurous type. I drive around on my bike at night when there is not so much traffic. If you stay on MacArthur highway the main road it's hard to get lost. I crossed over this really cool looking bridge last night going to Bamban.


----------



## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

MR2 said:


> I love seeing that stuff here. I never see it back home.
> 
> There are many places to visit here too if you are the adventurous type. I drive around on my bike at night when there is not so much traffic. If you stay on MacArthur highway the main road it's hard to get lost. I crossed over this really cool looking bridge last night going to Bamban.


That bridge is only several years old and it's on a good section of road too. Mc Arthur Hwy going North is a good ride too once you get out of Mabalacat. From there to Tarlac City it's about a two hour ride and most of it is all country and an easy ride. Lots of back roads to explore too and getting lost is half the fun as there is always a local to point you in the right direction.


----------



## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Couple of the posts on this thread mentioned places to look at. I spent some time in Lucena a few years ago and overall it seemed to be a fairly nice place. Between Manila and Sorsogen just off the main highway so is easy to find and only a little over an hour to NAIA. I & Wife now live in Iloilo since last year. Have bought a lot and will be building a house in a couple months.

Fred


----------



## 888dino (Apr 22, 2014)

Jet Lag said:


> That's no mid-life crisis. You should see Angeles City. Not long ago I went to the VFW post in Balibago, Angeles City.
> Right there, during the day, was a old guy that must have been at least in his mid 80's. He was being pushed in his wheelchair by two cuties that could not have been over 19! He even had an oxygen tank that was in operation while heading down the street with a HUGE smile on his face. Come to think of it,,, the two cuties were smiling too:confused2:. They should call Luzon - Fantasy Island instead!!



HAHAHA jetlag. i wouldnt expect to see anything less there. id just like to see him holding his cathater bag ready for a photograph. classic.


----------



## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

888dino said:


> HAHAHA jetlag. i wouldnt expect to see anything less there. id just like to see him holding his cathater bag ready for a photograph. classic.


Yea it really is a common thing to see in Angeles. Sure struck me funny that time though as both he and the girls were thinking or what they were gonna get----funny, you could almost see the $$$ signs in their eyes dreaming of the insurance payoff... Hehehe...


----------

