Where will I live? Can't say!
OK, so this week, the “Where I Live” week here on LiP, I’ve talked about where I have lived previously, where I live now and where we had planned to live. The future, though, is not clear yet on where we really will live. One thing is for certain, unless something major changes in our lives, and that is that we will live in the Philippines.
The view in Buda
So, what are the considerations at this point? Let’s have a look:
- Samal Island. Yes, we are still keeping an eye on Samal. I was pretty clear yesterday that Samal has not been ruled out. We already own a very nice piece of land there, in fact I’d call it a premium piece of land. It has a beautiful view, and we both love the place a lot. So, there is still a decent chance that we will decide to live there after all. It’s still a good possibility!
- Buda. Buda, or that general area is a place that is on the Davao City-Bukidnon border. We are talking like a 90 minute drive from the City. Of course, as the City continues to grow, that 90 minutes keeps shrinking, who knows how close it will be to town a few years from now? Feyma and I have talked about buying like a hectare out in the Buda area and having a small ranch with a couple of horses, maybe a few cattle that we would use for our own beef, pigs and such. Grow some vegetables there too. A really rural lifestyle, but still not that far from the City. Probably we would go to the City like once per month or so. We have several very good friends who live in the Buda area, within about 30 minutes of each other. I feel like we could have a pretty nice lifestyle there, and enjoy ourselves a lot. Having the mini-ranch could be nice if we have grandkids who might enjoy riding the horse, playing with the other animals and such. We wouldn’t want anything fancy, just something that we would be comfortable in. The weather can get quite cool up in Buda. There have been times when we were there and I felt that I wished I had a jacket to wear! I don’t even own a jacket! Ha ha… So, Buda is on the list of possible future homes for us.
- Southern Davao City. We have considered the possibility of buying a house or building a house somewhere in the southern part of the City, maybe in Central Park, or somewhere in the Matina area or south of there. However, again, traffic is a major consideration in that area, so perhaps it’s not a good idea. We used to live in Matina for a few months, and the traffic was a downside already, and that was in 2002, so I am certain that it is much worse now. However, we feel that the traffic is not as bad there as it here in the heart of the City, and also we really like Central Park, it’s a quiet neighborhood, and also well kept. So, it is at least on the list.
- Cebu. Well, I haven’t discussed this with Feyma very extensively, but I will put it on the list anyway. If I don’t respond to your comments, or if you don’t hear from me, that means that Feyma was not too happy by having this on the list! Ha ha.. No, I know that Feyma has an open mind, and we have had a bit of discussion that I might want to move to Cebu sometime in the future. Notice I said “I might want” not “We might want” because I have not convinced her yet. I like Cebu, though. There are some advantages there, but if we did move there, I doubt that we would want to live in the City, probably we would choose to live either north of or south of the City, maybe 30 minutes out of town or so. We like quiet, as you know by reading my recent articles. For me, a major attraction of living in Cebu is the language. Being able to use my Bisaya in such an environment is something I find very attractive and inviting. Also, there are a lot of conveniences and availability of almost any kind of products in and around Cebu.
So, you may be wondering… “why doesn’t Bob keep living where he is now?” That’s a good question. The real answer is that we are renting the house where we live now. When we are ready to settle down and the kids have grown up, we would prefer to build a place (or buy if we find the right place) and live out the rest of our years there. Notice that 3 of the 4 places I listed are in or near Davao City. As I have said clearly this week, and before, we love Davao, and we always will. But, you also have to consider all the options when you are starting to make plans for your final place where you will spend the rest of your days, or plan to. So, that is what this series of articles is all about for me. It also happens to give you an insight into what I am thinking about, and my reasoning. Not that what I am thinking is all that important, but if you plan to live in the Philippines, then it is an advantage to hear what a long time resident has on his mind, or at least I think it is.
So, for me, this wraps up my part of the “Where I live” series on LiP. There will still be a couple more articles in the series before it wraps up, but this is the last one that you’ll get from me. I hope that you enjoyed my thinking, and that it brought you some information that might be helpful for you.
Hi Bob, Each one of these places sound like good choices to me too, of course being that they’re all in the Philippines. I think you know where I’ll be–I’ve gone on about it enough here! When the time presents itself, please have Feyma email me and I’ll try my sales pitch on her, I bet I can convince her to choose Cebu. For selfish reasons, having the chance for friendship through a shared location and many things in common would be very nice.
Best of luck and blessings wherever you choose.
Good articles Bob, informative. I can appreciate your rural lifestyle within a short drive of the city, it can be difficult to find that kinda of mix. I like Bohol (#1 on my list) and Dumaguette because they have this mix, although the nearby ‘citys’ are actually very small towns.
How about growing your own coffee beans along with your cows? Endless supply of latte’s !!
i actually own a property in eden (subdivision lot). the weather is agreeable & i like the idea of building my own art studio by the house up the hills with the view of the city.
we’ve been dreaming up our ideal house for some time, if we ever choose to move there.
one drawback is that i’ve come to enjoy living in the city center. i enjoy walking around being my curious self among the chaos & energy of crowded streets.
but i’ve also lived for 1.5 years in bago oshiro, mintal which is of similar climate & distance to the city. no mosquitos & a nice view of mt. apo, coconut trees & the occasional horse grazing.
i did not mind the distance & it felt a comfortable cushion from the politics of family & friends. 30-40 minutes away from downtown is nothing. it’s practically an easy work commute in california by streetcar or driving.
i’ve also seriously discussed partnering up with family to buying samal beachfront. we have a family boat & would love to design our getaway resort in some out of the way beach.
so, you might be seeing me as a neighbor in the distant future if the planets align.
Hi Bob – I’m sure that wherever you end up, Feyma and you will enjoy your life. Would I be correct in assuming that internet connectivity would be just as good (if not better) than your present condition? Somehow, I just can’t see you joining in with commuters just to poke some keys!
Hello Bob, I am in Isabel right now licking my wounds from littlemotorcycle accident. Only me involved, and Merlin. Just scaps and bruses and p3000 to my new cycle look like new again. Small town and 50 minutes to Oromc where we were headed. Truck stop and gave us ride with bike to motor cycle shop in Ormoc. What kind of people are these. He was only going 10 kiloimeters up the road but took us the 30 kilometers to Ormoc. Almost had to force him to take p1000 for ride. It seems I am only Kano here aqnd treated so well. We are trying to clear the title for Merlins house that is in between her dads and sisters. Family dispute that seem can be fixed for less than p75,000. 1/2 hector but going start up hill. No farm other than exciting banana, cocnut, mango, jack fruit, and bamboo.Most of house needs to be torn down and rebuilt in block but still paradise. I was never going to make it in city. My brother is also here in Bilian so we get to see each other. I know you need to be close to city but for most of my life I have had to travel to do major shopping. I know you will make right decision.
Andy
Hey, bob as i like cooler weather i would love buda.
you cant beat the cool mountain air.
HI BOB,
Try VISIT DUMAGUETE .I THINK YOU WILL LIKE IT THERE…CEBU is a no no for me for some reason seems too hot
Hi Bob,
You will have to forgive me but I can not understand why you would not choose property near the beach…..I mean come on Bob living in the hills you could be anywhere …but the beach WOW now that’s living in Paradise….
I think it was app.6 to 9 mth ago I read an articel about Buda, where the Phil. gov. were planning to start a mining project, mining for copper, copper/gold and gold as far as I remember. If that mining come true, it could mean more traffic and more noise and pollution in the area, and perhaps more people.
What I am trying to say is, in my experience, what looks good today may not look good after some time. Things change, people change and we are all influenced by our surroundings that we cannot control. Best wishes for you an Feyma in finding your place to live.
Hi Bob
Buda looks like a place were a man can relax, and put down roots
I fly wed night to see my place in Pangasian,I sent you some recent
pics,cant wait to be back home.
http://www.infomine.com/index/properties/BUDA_PROJECT_(CENTRAL_MINDANAO).html
I am not sure if this is the notice I read at that time, and I might have misunderstood it all.
You left out Bogo and Bantayan Island!
Better than all those places. 
They have tree top air service from Bantayan to Cebu but its $200 per person with a minimum of two people.
We had a quite place in Talisay just south of Cebu City but quite was hard to find. The traffic north of the city is pretty bad, I think you caught it on a good day/time.
At least one half of the time from the City to Bogo is spent getting on the other side of Danao. When I lived in Talisay, it took about 30 minutes to get to SM Mall and P100. Of course, 10 years from now that will all change.
If they really build that bridge out to Bohol that might be a consideration too!
Hi Bob and Feyma, I am thinking it will be Buda. Don’t know quite why. Anyway, best of luck whichever you go for.
Hi Bob!
If Samal is starting to become a busy place it might be the right time to consider building some rental units on your lots. Maybe you can find some rich kanos to rent them! hehe! So far Feyma has the best revue but maybe I am a little biased.
Hi Bob,
My wife and I have enjoyed your articles on places to live in the Philippines as well as the articles of the other writers.
Recently my wife visited Cebu City, Davao city and Butuan City. She was quite impressed with Davao. She thought it wasn’t as traffic congested as Cebu though. Parts of Cebu, especially near the Ayala Mall, felt like Palm Beach, Florida.
She can’t recommend Butuan but seconds the other commenters inclusion of Dumaguete City as a worthy retirement destination.
Buda sounds interesting but I wonder about the safety of a foreigner living there.
Hi Bob – When I saw your description of Buda I had to laugh as more and more you are coming closer to my kind of life style despite you telling me on more than one occassion that you would never live in Talakag.
At least in Talakag we are only 30 mins from the city of Cagayan de Oro.
At the end of the day its all about being happy with your life.
Best wishes.
Jim.
hey Bob do the country thing and you can’t go wrong ..Phil n Jess
Hi queenie – Thank you kindly. My person leaning is toward Buda. The other day, Feyma mentioned GenSan to me. Ha ha… it’s all up in the air right now. No rush, though.
Hi brian – I’m glad that you enjoyed the articles. More “where I live” articles to come over the weekend from other writers, and one from Feyma later today too. Still more interesting info yet to come, I think.
You are right, what I am looking for is difficult if not impossible to find. Peace, quiet, yet close to “stuff”.
I’m not interested in growing my own coffee beans…. that would be work! I’m allergic!
Hi Macky – For the Samal thing, for what you are looking for, go south, or go to the other side of the island. That would be perfect.
If we are neighbors…. keep plenty of diet coke on hand, in case I run out!
Hi Paul – Good Internet? That goes unsaid, my friend! That’s like asking if I want to have any air at the place where I intend to live! I like to breath while I surf the net!!!
Hi Steve – Buda is a place that is really dear to me! I don’t know if you have been there, but it’s a very special place.
Hi Ning – I’ve never felt drawn to Dumaguete, but perhaps I’ll have a look someday.
Hi Tyleen – You know, I can’t understand why you would choose property on the beach when there is plenty of mountain property available. I mean, the beach is everywhere in the Philippines, but the mountains, now that is paradise!!
Ha ha… see how I turned your argument around?
Truth is that neither Feyma nor I have any desire to live on the water. A view is much preferable to us. We all have our own individual tastes. What is paradise to one person may be hell to another. Feyma and I choose based on our preferences, as everybody should!
Hi Andy – I’m sorry, somehow I managed to skip by your comment! Sorry about that! Hey, I’m sorry to hear about your motorcycle accident! I hope you are feeling better soon! Good luck on the land thing too!
Hi preben – I hear you, and I appreciate your sentiment. I keep pretty well informed regarding Buda, and I have not heard about any kind of potential for mining there. I doubt it, because that whole area is protected ancestral tribal land. It is protected by the government. But, who knows, I may have missed something.
http://www.infomine.com/index/properties/BUDA_PROJECT_(CENTRAL_MINDANAO).html
I am not sure this is the notice I remember, and reading this I might have misunderstood it all.
Hi James – it is most certainly a beautiful area. I got your photos today, things are moving ahead! Thanks for sharing those, and have a good time on your journey to check out the place!
Hi Preben- I just read that, it is a strange article to say the least. I can’t make heads or tails of it. It doesn’t seem to say at all what they are planning to do there, or even if this is the same “Buda” that I am talking about. Thanks for the link, though.
Hi Rusty – I think I could live in Bogo. I don’t think I’d be interested in Bantayan, though. I’m not a beach guy. It’s OK to visit, but I would not want to live on the beach, though. The bus ride from Bogo to Cebu is not bad, and I’d have my own vehicle anyway, so that would be pretty good. I just hope Feyma doesn’t read this, though… she has her mind elsewhere, I think.
Hey Rusty, tell them we;re not getting paid to say all this nice stuff! Talisay for me is way too crowded and too many foreigners. I wonder about sewage and water supply issues now and in the future there. I have friends in Cordova, and that’s pretty nice, although crowded too.
Hi Bob, Towns farther north and on to Bogo are great, but I think there is a certain amount of risk that one takes when living so far from the city in an emergency, as you and Feyma mentioned about Samal Island presently. For me that’s a gamble I’m willing to take, but it wouldn’t be for everyone. There are some really nice towns closeby outside of Cebu City north and south that would fit your interests, and are thirty minutes or a little more. Living outside of the city, or even some of the residential neighborhoods within the city are still nice. I find Cebu pretty safe and prefer to live in a town proper or barangay as opposed to a subdivision.
You know Bob, the more I think of it, if distance from the city isn’t a problem, Bogo would really be a great fit for you guys. I can attest that although the town or city proper has developed a lot over time, and in a good way, the barangays have not changed a lot, and still remain peaceful and beautiful. The hills and valleys really can take your breath away, and it’s really quiet too! If given a choice to go up through thsee hills to reach Bogo, it is more pleasant than fighting the traffic and dust to get into the city. Rusty and Jessie would make fun neighbors too!
Hi Queenie – The medical part of it is not a big concern to me. Hey, I believe that if it’s your time, you are gonna die.
As for living in the City… personally, I, like you, do not want to live in a gates Subdivision. That’s not for me.
I totally agree with that. Hey life is full of gambles, that what makes it interesting.
And that’s the nice thing in all of this: There really is no rush. You’re still a young man with lots of life ahead of you!
Hi Queenie – Yep! I totally agree!
Hi queenie – I like Bogo, it’s a nice place. I have really only one problem with Cebu/Bogo, and that is that when I was there, a LOT of people thought that I was somebody else. The person is a well known person, who has somewhat of a bad reputation. I was constantly mistaken for this person while there. He used to live in Bogo, and I had a couple of somewhat bad incidents in Bogo because of the mistaken identity. I suppose that if I lived there, after some time people would realize that I was not this other fellow, but it might be uncomfortable.
I like Buda, jonaky. Not sure if Feyma is with me on that, though. Oh well, we are still talking about years down the road, though…
Hi Tom – You never know, the rental units might be a consideration. We have actually considered building a house for rental over there (maybe not on that exact property, though), something we would rent out on a weekly basis for vacationers or something. It could happen.
Hi Tom N – Exactly! Just dreaming into the future right now!
At least I hope I still have lots of life ahead.
Hmm, I like the Buda idea as well, maybe its a ‘any-age boy thing’ then. A farm to play with? not so much a grandchildren thing after all?
maybe get a real tractor? would mean a lot of hard work though in reality!
Hi jonaky – Ha ha.. that’s the problem with dreams… they often turn into work!
But, one nice thing about the Philippines is that you can cheaply hire people to take the work part out of the equation. Only problem then is that you have to manage the people! 
Well, probably in the future that would be forgotten, and anyway it wouldn’t take them lomg to tell the difference.
Yeah, I hope so, Queeniebee!
Hi Randall – I consider Buda quite safe. I have two foreigner friends who have been living in Buda for many years. Father Franco, and Italian Priest has lived there for many, many years, and an Israeli friend has lived there for several years too. I personally would not be concerned about safety there.
My experience with Cebu is that it is less traffic congested than Davao is, but I was only there for a few days, so that could be a fluke.
Thanks for sharing your wife’s thoughts!
Hi Jim –
Yes, what you say is true. I said that I would not be happy in Talakag. One of the reasons is that I really dislike CdO. It’s Ok for me to visit, but it wouldn’t be where I would hope to go to when I wanted to be in the City. Davao is a place that I love. But, CdO makes me feel claustrophobic. Don’t take me wrong, I like Talakag, I just could not be happy living there.
Hi Phil – Just not sure if Feyma’s into that though!
ok ..if you can get a hector or 2 in Buda that is close enuf for a sit n wait… horses are a waste of time you need a caribou more fun ..I bought one 2 weeks ago hee hee .after reading martins article It looks like u are about 6 hours from my house now ..I’ll have to stop by someday.Phil n Jess