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I'm really debating Singapore/Japan. I've done alot of time in Manila, PH and love it, and across some USA Cities - Seattle, Chicago, Miami, Tampa, NYC and the

I'm really debating Singapore/Japan. I've done alot of time in Manila, PH and love it, and across some USA Cities - Seattle, Chicago, Miami, Tampa, NYC and they're great but it's still the USA. I have been a nomad for the past 2 years, kinda but I position myself down for 2 months at a time because it's hectic to get anything done if you do it every week/few weeks or worse - weekend. I find that I need a solid week to a week and a half to get used to an area, even if I know it pretty well. Airbnbs are all over the place and no true area is the same as another.

badestrand 6y ago
Can you recommend an area in Manila or elaborate what you like about it? When I was there for two weeks I experienced it as a suffocating concrete block. I love big, vibrant cities but couldn't really get the hang of Manila.
- rootsudo 6y ago
  Sure, it depends on what but if you rent a nice condo in the south starting from taguig and going down it is nice. Bonifacio Global City is a great starting place, 25,000 pesos should get you a one bedroom. Then On the highway south, Alabang, Las Pinas, and such easy enough. I love Manila because of the ease of networking, making friends and then the raw nature, hiking once you're out of Manila itself into the northern provinces. It's really a LCOL city, if you know how to handle yourself and minimize on electronics purchase - some big purchases I would suggest a flight to HK which was as inexpensive as $1000 round trip. You can purchase a car in Manila/NCR area for about $3000 USD/150K pesos, they're low mileage for older examples and you should know how to work on a car for best value (I got an older CR-V that I'm not worried about the resale value at all vs a new car which can't go offroad at all.) Most Filipinos don't know their own history or travel out of NCR (from NCR of coure) so I always enjoy trips where I can agument USA history to PH history, though it's always fun to learn something new - but it's great to see all the quotes of "those who don't know history end up repeating it" and general ignorance because... the country is ripe for opportunity but the overall level of ignorance is extreme and you can make parallels easily to USA and other parts of the world. It really reshaped my way of thinking. So that's why I enjoy it. Easy of connectivity to locals, easy to do arbitrage of retail products once you hang the hang of things and low out of pocket and more emphasis on your conversational skills to get things done - so self reliance.

badestrand 6y ago

Can you recommend an area in Manila or elaborate what you like about it? When I was there for two weeks I experienced it as a suffocating concrete block. I love big, vibrant cities but couldn't really get the hang of Manila.

rootsudo 6y ago
Sure, it depends on what but if you rent a nice condo in the south starting from taguig and going down it is nice. Bonifacio Global City is a great starting place, 25,000 pesos should get you a one bedroom. Then On the highway south, Alabang, Las Pinas, and such easy enough. I love Manila because of the ease of networking, making friends and then the raw nature, hiking once you're out of Manila itself into the northern provinces. It's really a LCOL city, if you know how to handle yourself and minimize on electronics purchase - some big purchases I would suggest a flight to HK which was as inexpensive as $1000 round trip. You can purchase a car in Manila/NCR area for about $3000 USD/150K pesos, they're low mileage for older examples and you should know how to work on a car for best value (I got an older CR-V that I'm not worried about the resale value at all vs a new car which can't go offroad at all.) Most Filipinos don't know their own history or travel out of NCR (from NCR of coure) so I always enjoy trips where I can agument USA history to PH history, though it's always fun to learn something new - but it's great to see all the quotes of "those who don't know history end up repeating it" and general ignorance because... the country is ripe for opportunity but the overall level of ignorance is extreme and you can make parallels easily to USA and other parts of the world. It really reshaped my way of thinking. So that's why I enjoy it. Easy of connectivity to locals, easy to do arbitrage of retail products once you hang the hang of things and low out of pocket and more emphasis on your conversational skills to get things done - so self reliance.