If you are of retirement age and wondering what to do and where to live when you retire, consider moving to the Philippines. This beautiful tropical country is one of the best kept secrets in the world, as every expat living there will tell you. Some of the benefits of living as an expat in the Philippines include:
- Hospitality. Filipinos are as warm and friendly as the Philippine climate. They are fascinated by the Americans and other foreigners who visit or live in their country and always make them feel welcome. Everyone smiles at you and treats you like royalty. And since Filipinos speak English, it’s easy to strike up a conversation with anyone. You will make friends quickly! One trip is enough to convince many tourists of this fact and keeps them coming back for more. Filipinos are so kind and hospitable that you will definitely miss it all when you go back home.
- Low Cost of Living. Cost of expat living is very cheap. With a modest income (by western standards) you can live like a rich man in a nice house with your own maids and driver (or use cheap taxi if you don’t have a car). Labor is ridiculously cheap as you will find when you need a plumber, electrician or carpenter to fix something in your house. That is unheard of in the US where it is better and cheaper to do the work yourself.
- Romance. If you are looking for love and marriage, you cannot find a better place for that than the Philippines. Love in a tropical paradise is no mere fantasy; it can become a reality for an expat living there. The exotic beauty and allure of Filipinas is no myth; it’s real as you will find for yourself. Filipinas make beautiful, loyal and devoted wives. Every expat living in the country with a local wife will swear up and down he is married to the nicest person in the world. Not only the women for that matter. Filipino men are romantic lovers who know how to respect a woman and make her feel like a queen. There’s something for everyone and you need never be lonely!
- Tourist’s Haven. The Philippines is a tourist’s dreamland. Beautiful beaches, hotels to fit all budgets, world-class shopping malls, diving resorts, and exciting night-life are just some of the things you can enjoy during your vacation. Another thing is medical tourism. If you need to have cosmetic surgery or heart bypass, get it in the Philippines. Medical costs are unbelievably cheaper than in western countries. What is more, the service provided by caring doctors and nurses is unparalleled.
These just some of the good things that an expat living in the Philippines enjoys. Why go into lonely retirement in your own country when there is a secret haven waiting for you?
Still not convinced? Ask any expat living in the Philippines. They will tell you!
Dubbed as the Queen City of the South, Cebu City is one of the historic sites and thriving cities of the Philippines. Cebu City is one of the oldest cities in the country. It is disputed to have the oldest street in all of the Philippines -- Colon Street.
Cebu City may be old, but the nightlife here isn't really ancient. Cebu City may well be termed as the resort of the Visayas region. It has a thriving commercial center, an international harbor, and is the second city in the Philippines.
The history of the Philippines is well marked in Cebu City. Its vicinity is the place where much of Philippine-Spanish history started. Here is the place where the Spanish first landed for conquest. Evidence of which is Fort San Pedro, the oldest and smallest Spanish fort in the country. This was built under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565, a Spanish Conquistador.
Other than Fort San Pedro, Cebu City has a host of other tourist spots to visit. Colon Street, in the downtown area, is the oldest street in the country. Built by the Spaniards during the conquest here in the country, the place was once known as the Parian District. The street nowadays is the center of Cebu City's nightlife. Lined by movie houses, department stores, restaurants, and business establishments, Colon Street is now a center of commerce in Cebu City.
Casa Gorordo Museum is the home of the first Filipino Bishop of Cebu. You'll be treated to a tour of life in the late 1800s. The place is marked by relics of the era that includes antique furniture, and a Spanish style courtyard.
Another popular site in Cebu City is the Magellan's cross. It features a wooden cross planted by Ferdinand Magellan over 450 years ago. It commemorates the beginning of Christianity in the Philippines.
The University of San Carlos, Cebu City is the oldest school in the Philippines. It was established in 1565 and was formerly known as Colegio de San Ildefonso.
Other tourist spots in Cebu City feature other religious sites like a Taoist Temple (a lot of people climb its 99 steps everyday just to have their fortunes read to them) and the Heavenly Temple of Charity (the natural spring located in this temple is believed to have healing effects).
Cebu City is also famous for its festivals. First of these is the Sinulog Festival celebrated every third Sunday of January. It's the biggest festival in Cebu City, and is held in honor of the Holy Image of Senyor Santo Nino de Cebu.
Some of the other festivities include the Tres De Abril Celebration (commemorating the Spanish resistance) and Paskuhan (a province-wide Christmas celebration).
How to get to Cebu City? Flights from Manila to Cebu City are scheduled daily priced at Php 1,700 to Php 4,000. Another way to get to Cebu City is by ship with costs ranging from Php 2,000 to Php 3,600. Accommodations in Cebu City range from $18 to $600 from a night at a beach resort to a room in a grand hotel.
Come visit Cebu City to experience a mix of modern and historic life. Be prepared to experience the busy city life laced with a whiff of fresh sea air.
[Tags]Cebu City, Philippines, Visayas, Cebu, Visaya, Travel, Tourism, Cebu Island, Sinulog, Taoist Temple[/Tags]
Dipolog is the capital of Zamboanga Del Norte. This city has some of the best restaurants that any tourist can enjoy. The restaurants offer international dishes as well as some of the best local food. Dipolog is also known as a place rich in marine life so the seafood caught here is always fresh.
1. Grandma's Best Restaurant and Bakeshop - This is a restaurant in Dipolog which is also a bakeshop. The pastries here and bread are made fresh everyday. They also offer delicious cakes. They also serve full meals like spaghetti and lumpiang Shanghai. This is situated at the corner of Arellano and Mabini Streets in the town of Barra. The price of the food here starts from three pesos up to three hundred fifty pesos. They also make sweets or delicacies that residents of Dipolog are known for.
2. Port Orient Restaurant - This is a good restaurant inside the Dakak Resort.They offer delicious food for anytime of the day. They specialize in seafood like prawns, crabs and blue marlin. They also serve good desserts. They also serve pizza to cater to the diverse pallette of the customers of the resort.
3. Shellpark and Remedios Restaurant - If you would like to enjoygood music while eating your dinner this restaurant is the place for you. This can be found in Rizal Street. There are parties held every night so guests can also dance throughout the night.
4. Giacomino's - If you like Italian classics like pasta and pizza then Giacomino's is the best restaurant for you. This is situated in Gen. Luna Street in the city. The chicken in this restaurant is also a best seller.
5. Big Joe's Restaurant - This is a favorite restaurant of the locals and the tourists. The ambiance in this restaurant is very casual. They offer Filipino and international dishes. They specialize in pork steaks and other steaks. They also serve Chinese siomai. For the dessert you can have their smoothies. You can have a budget of one hundred fifty pesos for yourself or five hundred pesos for three persons.
6. CL Fastfood - This is a fast food in Rizal Street. This is a restaurant offering Filipino and Chinese cuisine. You can buy a food which costs only fifteen pesos or a complete meal for two hundred twenty pesos. Their place is very spacious. Locals like celebrating special occasions here. They can accommodate two hundred fifty people.
As a photographer, there will be a constant need for a change of scenery. If you're tired of the same old scene in your town, traveling would be a great change from monotony, and Metro Manila would be the ideal place for someone like you.
There are a million things that can catch your fancy in a place like Metro Manila, and everything is just an hour or two's (depending on the traffic) worth of travel away. Manila is very diverse! You can be in the slums one second and then be in the very heart of the Philippine economy in a few steps.
This is what makes the Philippines such a great photograph resource. It has so much to offer to any photographer who travels there. If you're an urban life photographer, there is so much emotion that can be captured in the streets of Tondo, Cubao, Quezon City, and even downtown Manila.
If you're more of a lifestyle photographer, you can visit the sprawling estates in Forbes, Rockwell, Corinthian Gardens, and the like. There are also new trendy spots like Bonifacio High Street and Serendra where a high-class lifestyle is what they offer.
Manila is especially wonderful for those who like to take pictures of architecture. Almost around every corner is a church, and the design of the churches in the Philippines vary in influence, era, and material. For the more modern eye, Makati and Ortigas Center, and Fort Bonifacio are abound with structures that are bound to give you a beautiful picture.
For the nature lover there are tree-lined streets in New Manila and in the campuses of University of the Philippines Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University. There are also botanical gardens in Luneta and Pasig.
For the photographer who can never miss a good sunset, an afternoon at Roxas Boulevard is an opportunity you shouldn't miss. Manila Bay is famous for its golden sunsets, wherein the colors of the sky come alive in such a breathtaking manner.
For someone who likes skylines especially at night, there is a beautiful view of Manila from a spot in Antipolo, which is less than an hour's travel away. An amazing play of lights can also be seen on the various bridges in downtown Manila that are built over Pasig River.
Lastly, for the photographer who likes portraiture, Manila is the best place for that purpose. It is a melting pot of different races be it Asian, American, or European. Nobody looks the same because hardly anyone is purely from one race only, therefore providing variety.
We've given some examples of why the Philippines is a great place for photography, but you're sure to find more. Just be ready with your camera in hand because you'll never know when that moment will come and be exactly right for the perfect photograph.
Once known as Western Samar, Samar is a province in the Philippines situated in the Eastern Visayas Region. Catbalogan City is its capital and the western portion of Samar Island is its jurisdiction (this also includes the islands in the Samar Sea which are situated to the west of the mainland). Two of the three cities of Samar Island (Catbalogan City and Calbayog City) are positioned in the district or municipality of Samar. Flanking the area to the east is Eastern Samar. Samar is connected to Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge, which traverses the San Juanico Strait, the thinnest channel in the Philippines and the region to the north is Northern Samar. Leyte Gulf is situated at the south of the province is the. The phrase ‘Samar Al Safar’ is also signifying the season of summer.
The province of Samar is considered the center of kut-kut art. It is a method or technique merging or combining antique Western (European) and Oriental art procedure. Kut-kut creation is considered to be a lost art and thus it is now highly popular amongst are enthusiasts and collectors. Nowadays, only a small number of these art pieces are known to survive or exist. According to history and research, it was between the 1600's to 1800's that the technique was practiced. For this reason, Kut-kut was considered an exotic art technique in the Philippines based on early century methods (layering, encaustic and sgraffito). The combination of these early techniques created a unique artwork distinguished by multi-layered surface, an illusion of three-dimensional space and fragile whirling interwoven strokes.
The majority of locals in Samar province speak the native dialect Samarnon-Waray-Waray. This dialect or language is also known as or Samar-Leyte Visayan, Waraynon or Samarnon. However, Cebuano is the native tongue or dialect in the island municipalities of Santo Niño and Almagro.
The internet is one of the best ways to gain access some of the vital information regarding the province of Samar. The official website of tourism in Northern Samar (http://www.northernsamartourism.ph/) and the official website of Eastern Samar (http://www.easternsamar.gov.ph/) are some of the helpful sites to visit for related facts about Samar Province. These websites have updated and real-time news and information about current events happening in Samar. It is a must for first time visitors to check these sites.