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MrBlueLight wrote:Want to see foreigners in Metro Manila? Head to the bars in Makati, they are EVERYWHERE.
The reason I am in Manila and not Cebu or Davao is because this is my first trip to the Philippines, and I want the fullest experience so I went to the largest city.
The cost of living in Manila is overblown. If you want to live in Makati or the Fort, the foreigner bubbles, of course the cost is going to be high. But if you are willing to live areas with a more "local" scene such as Pasay, Mandaluyong, or Quezon City, then the cost will be comparable to Cebu and Davao. I live very comfortably in a gated condo with a $1000 USD/month budget. It is like $350 rent, $100 utility, $50 phone and wifi. Food is about $3-4 a meal at the mall, the rest of my budget goes toward dates. It is a VERY comfortable living situation in Metro Manila.
Hearing that girls in other parts of PH aren't as attractive as ones in Manila, I think my next trip back would be Manila again, just in a different district (city).
pasay is near the airport and bus station and is where the mall of asia is and the red light district nearby. Its not a nice place to live cause of that I think. I found hte hotels extremely expensive in pasay city. never been to quezon or mandaluyong. I think someoen would ahve to be far away from the hotspots like that to enjoy manila better. I prefer hotels cause I like to have flexibility of moving around and also i dont want to set up shop and move in and deal with a landlord nad utilties. I had a hotel in cebu and it was a great rate for months. I know i couldn't live that cheap anywhere else. with the bigger traffic and the fact things are spread out more and more expensive it sounds like ill stay away from manila then, the crime is pretty bad there anyways.
Part of Ortigas, a more upscale area with a percentage of foreigners is in Mandaluyong. Also, Mandaluyong borders the very narrow Pasig River on the opposite side of Makati and Rockwell. The huge Tivololi Gardens condo complex there just opposite side from Makati has a significant percentage of foreign residents and Century Properties is well on way to completing a cluster of condos in Mandaluyong right across from Rockwell.
There are several red light districts spread throughout Metro Manila. Some have a lot of foreigners, others not so much.
The idea of going to Metro Manila to escape foreigners resident in Philippines sounds pretty dumb when you analyze it a bit. But I do agree that Metro Manila is going to have a highly disproportionate share of the countries beauties.
Ok so basically you agree with me there is a higher disproportionate of beauties. Lets assume that the population of foreigners matches cebu city in regards to percentage which seems to be the case if we just go by the actual numbers. Although its hard to say cause we dont know what the demographics of those foreigners are in those numbers cited. which may be skewed for some specific foreigner demographic. well with the higher caliber of women and women with money and it still looks like a very slight edge to less foreigners in manila compared to population Ive proven my point. I rest my case.
Data I have suggests your assumption is erroneous.
To make it easier for you to comprehend, I will break it down into foreigner penetration (number of foreign residents per 100,000 population)
In 2010, Metro Manila had foreigner penetration of 461 per 100K vs. a generous estimate of just 260 per 100K in Metro Cebu. Thus Metro Manila had a foreigner penetration 77% higher than Metro Cebu's. That's quite a big difference.
How did I estimate Metro Cebu's foreign population for figures above? Central Visayas had 10,620 foreign residents. Strip out the 4,000 who lived in Dumaguette and ignore the ones living in Bohol and outlying areas of Cebu province to be generous and you get 6,620. 6,620 / 2.55 mn => 260 per 100K.
MrBlueLight wrote:Want to see foreigners in Metro Manila? Head to the bars in Makati, they are EVERYWHERE.
The reason I am in Manila and not Cebu or Davao is because this is my first trip to the Philippines, and I want the fullest experience so I went to the largest city.
The cost of living in Manila is overblown. If you want to live in Makati or the Fort, the foreigner bubbles, of course the cost is going to be high. But if you are willing to live areas with a more "local" scene such as Pasay, Mandaluyong, or Quezon City, then the cost will be comparable to Cebu and Davao. I live very comfortably in a gated condo with a $1000 USD/month budget. It is like $350 rent, $100 utility, $50 phone and wifi. Food is about $3-4 a meal at the mall, the rest of my budget goes toward dates. It is a VERY comfortable living situation in Metro Manila.
Hearing that girls in other parts of PH aren't as attractive as ones in Manila, I think my next trip back would be Manila again, just in a different district (city).
pasay is near the airport and bus station and is where the mall of asia is and the red light district nearby. Its not a nice place to live cause of that I think. I found hte hotels extremely expensive in pasay city. never been to quezon or mandaluyong. I think someoen would ahve to be far away from the hotspots like that to enjoy manila better. I prefer hotels cause I like to have flexibility of moving around and also i dont want to set up shop and move in and deal with a landlord nad utilties. I had a hotel in cebu and it was a great rate for months. I know i couldn't live that cheap anywhere else. with the bigger traffic and the fact things are spread out more and more expensive it sounds like ill stay away from manila then, the crime is pretty bad there anyways.
Part of Ortigas, a more upscale area with a percentage of foreigners is in Mandaluyong. Also, Mandaluyong borders the very narrow Pasig River on the opposite side of Makati and Rockwell. The huge Tivololi Gardens condo complex there just opposite side from Makati has a significant percentage of foreign residents and Century Properties is well on way to completing a cluster of condos in Mandaluyong right across from Rockwell.
There are several red light districts spread throughout Metro Manila. Some have a lot of foreigners, others not so much.
The idea of going to Metro Manila to escape foreigners resident in Philippines sounds pretty dumb when you analyze it a bit. But I do agree that Metro Manila is going to have a highly disproportionate share of the countries beauties.
Ok so basically you agree with me there is a higher disproportionate of beauties. Lets assume that the population of foreigners matches cebu city in regards to percentage which seems to be the case if we just go by the actual numbers. Although its hard to say cause we dont know what the demographics of those foreigners are in those numbers cited. which may be skewed for some specific foreigner demographic. well with the higher caliber of women and women with money and it still looks like a very slight edge to less foreigners in manila compared to population Ive proven my point. I rest my case.
Data I have suggests your assumption is erroneous.
To make it easier for you to comprehend, I will break it down into foreigner penetration (number of foreign residents per 100,000 population)
In 2010, Metro Manila had foreigner penetration of 461 per 100K vs. a generous estimate of just 260 per 100K in Metro Cebu. Thus Metro Manila had a foreigner penetration 77% higher than Metro Cebu's. That's quite a big difference.
How did I estimate Metro Cebu's foreign population for figures above? Central Visayas had 10,620 foreign residents. Strip out the 4,000 who lived in Dumaguette and ignore the ones living in Bohol and outlying areas of Cebu province to be generous and you get 6,620. 6,620 / 2.55 mn => 260 per 100K.
are we even sure the demographics of these residents are the same? In cebu i see lots of whites and koreans? Why is it that I didnt see any foreigners at mall of asia, the red light district, multiple hotels, etc. There were really nowhere to be seen. seemed more sparse than cebu where i can easily see if not any whites i could at least count on a bunch of koreans anywhere.
Im glad were analyzing this with numbers. Now I know to avoid manila cause there is more foreigners than what it appears.
are we even sure the demographics of these residents are the same? In cebu i see lots of whites and koreans? Why is it that I didnt see any foreigners at mall of asia, the red light district, multiple hotels, etc. There were really nowhere to be seen. seemed more sparse than cebu where i can easily see if not any whites i could at least count on a bunch of koreans anywhere.
Im glad were analyzing this with numbers. Now I know to avoid manila cause there is more foreigners than what it appears.
Metro Cebu had 2.55 mn residents in 2010. Look it up and stop pulling numbers out of your hat. (Edit: looks like your corrected yourself on that one and deleted your claim that Metro Cebu had only 1 mn+ residents. Finally you seem to be getting it)
What is 'the red light district'?
In metro Manila I would see lots of whites, Koreans, and middle easterners.
More foreigners than what it appears? It appears to me to be an awful lot when I walk around Makati. But I like that. Wherever you have concentrations of westerners and/or Koreans, there's great chance that you will have better restaurant, shopping, and general infrastructure in the area as well as more security.
Non-foreigner areas in Metro Manila are gonna mostly be ghetto. So if you wanna avoid them, stick to some of the better quality hinterlands.
are we even sure the demographics of these residents are the same? In cebu i see lots of whites and koreans? Why is it that I didnt see any foreigners at mall of asia, the red light district, multiple hotels, etc. There were really nowhere to be seen. seemed more sparse than cebu where i can easily see if not any whites i could at least count on a bunch of koreans anywhere.
Im glad were analyzing this with numbers. Now I know to avoid manila cause there is more foreigners than what it appears.
Metro Cebu had 2.55 mn residents in 2010. Look it up and stop pulling numbers out of your hat. (Edit: looks like your corrected yourself on that one and deleted your claim that Metro Cebu had only 1 mn+ residents. Finally you seem to be getting it)
What is 'the red light district'?
In metro Manila I would see lots of whites, Koreans, and middle easterners.
More foreigners than what it appears? It appears to me to be an awful lot when I walk around Makati. But I like that. Wherever you have concentrations of westerners and/or Koreans, there's great chance that you will have better restaurant, shopping, and general infrastructure in the area as well as more security.
Non-foreigner areas in Metro Manila are gonna mostly be ghetto. So if you wanna avoid them, stick to some of the better quality hinterlands.
No im correct metro cebu actually only has about 1.2 million cebu island had over 2 million big difference. there is only 3 cities and cebu city only has 850,000 the other 2 are very small 2 million is for the entire island which is big and is not part of cebu metro stats. Manila metro has 2 stats the NCR which is the 12 million and the more broader definition which is part of the big cities area but a little farther away its about 25 million. This is simple population statistics. but anyways your earlier numbers look ok so you may be right there is more foreigners per person in manila. I dont know what the makeup of said foreigners living there are though but its the only "hard data" we have.
Can you cite your data sources? It sounds like you are just making numbers up or going by something you vaguely remember reading long ago.
I've based most of what I posted on hard data from Philippine 2010 National Census. There are clear definitions within that of what Metro Cebu and Metro Manila (aka NCR) are comprised of in terms of specific cities.
Don't just say 'im correct'. Back it up.
No wonder what you write sometimes comes off as so questionable. You pull things out of thin air and claim they are facts.
Rock wrote:Can you cite your data sources? It sounds like you are just making numbers up or going by something you vaguely remember reading long ago.
I've based most of what I posted on hard data from Philippine 2010 National Census. There are clear definitions within that of what Metro Cebu and Metro Manila (aka NCR) are comprised of in terms of specific cities.
Don't just say 'im correct'. Back it up.
No wonder what you write sometimes comes off as so questionable. You pull things out of thin air and claim they are facts.
You are right i looked up cebu and it is 2.5 for just the metro area. Hmmm thought it was only 1.2 from memory.
As you can see there is "metro manila" as you showed in your "NCR" region but thats not even half of the true scope of the population living there. There is a more broader area included that is 20 to 25 million (depending on your definition and source). but the point is there is roughly 20 to 25 million is this mass connected area.
in a contiguous zone with Metro Manila is 25.5 million people as of the 2007 census. One way to refer to the conurbation around Metro Manila is Greater Manila Area, Metro Manila itself is compact, constituting 1/4 of Davao City's land area.
I didn't look into long-term hotel rates because I knew I wanted a condo. My condo has 24 hour security and multiple check points. There are armed guards at the all gates who carry around shotguns (not sure if it's real), then there is another check point at the entrance to the building. I have no problems with the neighbors so far. The walls to my condo seem to be concrete, so I cannot hear anything next door.
Rock wrote:Can you cite your data sources? It sounds like you are just making numbers up or going by something you vaguely remember reading long ago.
I've based most of what I posted on hard data from Philippine 2010 National Census. There are clear definitions within that of what Metro Cebu and Metro Manila (aka NCR) are comprised of in terms of specific cities.
Don't just say 'im correct'. Back it up.
No wonder what you write sometimes comes off as so questionable. You pull things out of thin air and claim they are facts.
You are right i looked up cebu and it is 2.5 for just the metro area. Hmmm thought it was only 1.2 from memory.
As you can see there is "metro manila" as you showed in your "NCR" region but thats not even half of the true scope of the population living there. There is a more broader area included that is 20 to 25 million (depending on your definition and source). but the point is there is roughly 20 to 25 million is this mass connected area.
in a contiguous zone with Metro Manila is 25.5 million people as of the 2007 census. One way to refer to the conurbation around Metro Manila is Greater Manila Area, Metro Manila itself is compact, constituting 1/4 of Davao City's land area.
To keep the contrast like-for-like (avoid apples to oranges), you should either compare
1. Metro Manila (NCR) to Metro Cebu
OR
2. Greater Manila to Central Visayas
I would recommend 1 over 2. Here's why. Greater Manila includes huge areas of country land which are very rural and province like. Ditto for Central Visayas. For example, all of Pampanga is included in Greater Manila. But if you travel from Metro Manila to Dau Terminal in Pampanga, you spend a good hour in the freeway passing through the countryside. Those areas are not at all urbanized.
Also, land area should not be considered in isolation. Jacksonville Florida has nearly twice the area of New York City. Much of the area incorporated in Davao City is actually hinterland. Perhaps the strong mayor grabbed more area, I don't know. Makati City has a very powerful mayor and he was able to rezone Global City out of Taguig and into Makati.
Also, you forgot that Greater Manila has a much higher number of foreigners than does Metro Manila. At least an additional 9% of foreigners live in Greater Manila ex-Metro Manila. And that's only adding the foreigners from Calabarazon and Angeles City. So 9% is probably an understatement.
Therefore, at least 40% of foreigners in Philippines live in Greater Manila vs. 26% of total population. Foreigners are still highly over-represented in Greater Manila and to a greater extent than they are over-represented in Central Visayas.
Are we talking about white foreigners or just foreigners in general? When I wear sunglasses like I usually do during the day, you could probably pass me off as a local. A lot of darker skinned Asians from other countries would probably get passed off as locals too. I believe there are more Chinese in Manila than in Cebu for sure. So his argument could still stand that Cebu has a higher RATIO of white people compared to Manila, but Manila may have a higher ratio of Asian foreigners.
I have been living in Metro Manila for over 10 years now. It has it good and bad parts about it. It's all mainly personal perspective and what one wants out of a place. I think the quality of life is overrated in Metro Manila but at the same time it provides many things other parts of the Philippines can't so its a mixed bag. The biggest problems I have with Manila area is the traffic/commute time and pollution. Those are my biggest gripes. Next on my list would be lack of decent nightlife options in comparison to other major cities in Asia. Considering the size of Manila it should be more happening, but its not. If your single and like to party you'll get bored fairly quickly in comparison to say a place like Bangkok.
Yeah, the best looking girls congregate to Metro Manila but that doesn't mean the city is teeming with hot girls everywhere, you still have to look for them and they are still few and far between in comparison to the average or uglies running around. However if you live in Makati, Ft Bonifacio, parts of Alabang/Quezon City or Ortigas area business districts and regularly frequent those areas, those places seem to have the best chance to spot the above average looking woman, besides going to areas and places of ill repute and whatnot.
There are a lot of foreigners here but you don't notice them as much cause Manila is so large and also they tend to stay to the easier to commute areas of Manila such as Makati or Malate areas. There still aren't as many then maybe in other Asian cities of equal size but they are noticeable if you live here.
Personally I find central Visayans to have a more independent and creative streak in them than I find in Luzon or Mindanao, maybe other than Baguio area where a lot of what would be called hippyish Filipinos like to live. It's more the central and 'parts' of Northern Luzon that sucks rather than the southern parts. Native Tagalog (Central) and Ilocano (Northern) Filipinos tend to be the biggest dick heads or Assholes in proportion to other cultural Dialect speaking Filipinos from other areas of the Philippines. Tagalog is a forced language because they partnered with the Spanish back in the day so became the elite of the Philippines next to the Spaniards so thus got to impose their will and culture upon other Filipinos whether it was welcomed or not. Those two dialect speakers think they are superior to other Filipinos. Illocano area is where Marcos originally came from if that gives you an idea. GMA comes from the Pampanga area.
Manila is best enjoyed in short doses rather than extended stays. If you have to live near Manila its best to live in one of the surrounding provinces just outside the metro like Batangas, Pampanga, Olongopo, Tagaytay which allows you to be outside the city limits but within a 2-3 hr bus ride into the city if you want to go there occasionally.
I have to live in Manila area for business and personal reasons but would prefer not too if I could help it. Living here long term wears your health down and its a tiring city, it sucks your energy reserves dry. You have to be well grounded and be able to reenergize in your own ways to live here long term without some part of you being damaged whether that's physical, mental or spiritual. I've adapted but have to admit most Westerners would not be able to live here as long as I have without losing their sanity in some way. Also, I think Manila is a lot better experienced being single and unattached than having a long time GF or being married with a family. The negatives are much more bearable when you can live a carefree single lifestyle with little responsibility other than to yourself. It's when you have to settle down in one area and deal with all the other BS the city throws at you and the way you reenergized when single by going out and getting laid regularly by different chicks isn't available anymore, then you have to figure out other ways to make it worth your time and energy wasted dealing with the typical city issues.
You can sign short term leases at condos if you want to avoid staying in hotels. You can save money that way but you obviously have to do your own research and make contacts. It's easier now with the internet but when I first arrived in 2003 they were still running mostly dial up so you had to physically run around the city trying to find a place.
Philippines is roughly 10-20 years behind the times in comparison to other countries who are more industrialized. I don't count the number of malls, condos, international chain stores and how easy it is to buy a certain brand cell phone, tablet or computer as innovative quality of life progress. Most things are an illusion here once you see through the superficiality of it all. Thi is why many older expats like Philippines cause they don't need to adapt to lifestyle changes. Basically the Philippines is in a time warp somewhere stuck in the 80's, just moving on to the early 90's if you compare how things are run and done here in comparison to how things were done in the states during the same time. Shopping is basically like how it was in the 80's, including the registers. Nothing much has changed in this country in regards to quality of life other than building more shopping malls, fast food chains, more international chain stores, condos and the highway being extended past Pampanga and Cavite. Everything else is pretty much just remained shit and the same. I left the states in 03 and had the same DSL speed as what the phone companies are currently offering NOW in 2014. I had to deal with dial up and intermittent DSL under 1Mbps up until maybe 2011/12 time frame. Right now I am lucky on a good day to get 1.5mbps even though my plan is supposed to be 3mbps. They offer up to 10 now but its a waste of money cause they never deliver that speed regularly anyways, plus its not worth the price they charge unless you absolutely need it for business purposes and even then you better be in Makati or Ortigas or you probably will just be throwing your money down a hole. It's actually better to sign up for a 2 Mbps plan from Globe and PLDT and then just use one or the other depending on which one is working or not at the time. Rather than buying 1 plan of 5mbps and having not work half the time or the speed is shit even though its supposed to be fast. Don't even get me talking about the portable WIFI USB sticks, they are portable dial up modems from the 90's basically, ha ha.
All and all, Manila is still a better place to live than most American cities IMO as long as you can leave every once in a while to recharge. If your stuck there all the time you'll go crazy after a while. However if you could live elsewhere in Asia and prefer a more happening city that actually progresses rather than regresses then I would check out other cities in Asia like Bangkok, Jakarta, etc. Obviously they have their issues too but Manila ain't all that really, other than you can get by speaking only English for the most part, many lower class Filipinos still cowtow to white people if you get off on that and many lower socio-economic women are easy to get dates and sex from. The infrastructure and pollution are the worst parts about the city. Remember in this country everything is made to look like it has substance to it, but it's basically smoke and mirrors. Most things have little substance to them here and quality and attention to detail is severely lacking. This extends to cultural elements as well so be aware when dating cause its a common theme that continues to crop up when hanging around most Filipinos. Filipinos are over emotional too so if you say the wrong thing and they misinterpret it, which often happens, better watch out and have some complicated explaining to do. All show, no substance that's the mantra of the wise here. You heard it here first straight from someone that actually talks the talk and does the walk here in PI.
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher, 121-180 A.D.
So pardon my mathematical ignorance but it was never one of my stronger subjects, how is this translated to English vernacular?
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher, 121-180 A.D.
