Just some general input. If your company wants you to work in Makati they should rent you an apartment, condo, within walking distance to work. ( I'm meaning the company pays the rent.) If your making US $50K now I would want at least US $80K. Food in Makati is not cheap and neither is much else. In fact I could shop much cheaper here in Tulsa Ok. than in Makati. Private schools are not cheap either. At US $80K I think you would be at a break even deal. You really do not want to commute in Manila traffic so having your residence within walking distance would be very important. Sure you will get more input on this but that's a few thoughts on this. If it's a career enhancing assignment you may want to go for it at any cost.

Living in Makati does not come cheap, but if you working there convenience may be a factor. What seems on a map a short distance can be over an hour in the rush hour traffic. You should see if your company will pay your accomodation or at least give you allowance, add to that cost of international schooling plus medical. Before agreeing your terms also get advice on the Philippine tax situation to make sure your package is tax efficient. Heres a few websites to check out the prices, unless you want something small, expect to pay 40,000 up for a condo

I own two apartments in Makati both two bedrooms and both very nice , paid 18 k for one put about 5 k into it and 25 k for the other as is , we have both a driver and a maid full time even while we are in the states the maid costs us p800 a month room board and high school our driver costs us 1500 a month room and board and he sleeps at out internet cafe, you can hire an electrician for 2 k a month... ya gotta look for bargoons bud , you brits got it to throw around though unlike us frugal yanks we bring our maids and drivers in from the provinces ....

As they say you pay for what you get. Having a driver from the provinces is very useful in Manila, especially for somebody who is going for the first time! What I have quoted is the going rate after checking with many people, it is not about being frugal its about giving people a decent wage and what their worth, I have no problems paying a maid 3000 pesos less than $60 a month, she deserves it. Any reasonable maid/driver will soon realise they are underpaid and if good will find a job somewhere else. In Hong Kong I used to pay more than the minimum and was quite happy to do so, the minimum, is about $475. The difference meant much more to her as it did to me. I would like to know where I can get a decent apartment in makati for 1 million pesos.

Where do you live? I get my bread from French Baker and at least it is not sweet. They have dark brown whole wheat (the round type) that is also Ok for my taste.

As for the heat just add another fan and you will be OK. Probably the tower is equipped with extra space for ventilators. When shipping do take out your hard drive and pack them separately in a box filled with foam. The same boxes that are used to ship hard disks in bulk. You can ship the rest but might just as well buy a new one here. After arriving here check the whole thing for loose cables, connectors and prints *before* plugging in the power. Checked luggage seems to be the worst choice to me. You should have a look at the handling of luggage at the airports.

I do hope this is suitable here. I was unable to find any reference in the archives. And, I hope any replies here, may help others in the future. I am trying to decide the best way to ship my *full* tower to the Philippines. What I am looking for is advice from you folks, if you will. Please let me know either by a choice here, or an option that you may feel is the best way to ship it. I have decided to leave all other hardware here, except the tower itself. I will buy a new monitor, scanner, printer, etc. in the PI. Anyway, here are the options I'm thinking of presently: 1. I can ship it by balakbayan box, surrounded by clothes for proper packing and support. 2. I can ship my clothes by balakbayan box, and take the computer in one of my pieces of checked luggage, on the plane. 3. I can just remove the HDD and take it with me. Then, just purchase a new machine in the Philippines. I guess I'm mainly concerned with safe handling, humidity, and heat.

cost depends on your preferences. I have a friend renting out in the posh subdivisions/condominiums here in Makati sometimes have to shell out P50k or more per month but very near Makati CBD (where I work) Also near the International/British/Japanese School in Bonifacio Global City... i'm referring to western style houses and executive style ones... names like Bel-Air, Urdaneta, Forbes, Dasmarinas, Magallanes et al... cost of living here is more expensive than Cebu or any other place and I suggest Makati not Manila...you'll get along with the cost once you know the right place to go and have excellent house help! be aware also of the traffic during rush hours here if you opt to live quite far from your office... Internet and phones are no problem not like in the provinces (I work in a telco, btw, managing an Internet Network where I enjoy high-speed, always-on connection)

I know I'm jumping in here. I have heard from people if the livin maid is also being sent to school at ones expense that some pay them nothing. They are getting free room and board, food, and the benefit of a free education i.e. the cost of school supplies, uniform and such. p>

Not to disagree too strongly, Ray, but although Makati is undoubtedly one of the most expensive areas in the Philippines, it's not so expensive that people, even Filipinos with no-expat type jobs, can't live there. You can find perfectly adequate living accomodations (western-style apartels) right in Salcedo village for, say $600 USD, quite convenient, albeit not luxurious. However the level of accomodation would certainly be similar to what a person making %50k in the US would be used to, especially if that person were currently living in a US city. Hopefully he'll hold out for some perqs and expense account from his company, but if I were offered a job _in_ Makati, I'd live _in_ Makati, much better thna commuting.

So I believe that You wouldn't have a Problem at all Just Packing your Tower in a balakbayan box and carring it with you as you Came over... There's been a couple posts recently on this shipping a computer thread and on shipping (via airline luggage) other items. Woven into thes eposts is the reference to balakbayan bozes. Just wanted to point out that the 'balabayan' boxes common sold in Filipino stores in the US are for container shipping _only_ they are too big by several inches for airline baggage. You are only allowed 62 linear inches (l+w+h) and it would be a bit disconcerting to arrive at the day of departure and find your sealed up boxes would not be accepted. A member reported a few weeks ago that his commercial (large) suitcase was rejected also, it did exceed 62 inches, albeit by a small amount. In the Philippines, National Bookstores sell airline boxes which do 'size out' axactly at 62 linear inches.

I'll have to defer to your info on living in Makati. I do know that it is a large area with lots of residential options. It is true, however, that the large employee base does include a significant percentage who live elsewhere and commute.

You will need a little cash of course when you arrive at the airport. The exchange rate for pounds at the airport is not as good as can be had at the money changers in town. Try to avoid changing money on a Saturday or Sunday as the rates are usually lower. Exchange rates at the Hotels are appalling. IMHO I do not think it is a good idea carting around huge amounts of Pounds or Dollars. We use the ATM's for cash advances Corrine without any problems. Some of the UK credit/cashpoint cards charge interest from the moment a cash advance is made (Lloyds TSB MasterCard). Barclaycard VISA does not. We only use Barclaycard VISA (Remember your Nectar Points!) or an HSBC card for goods and cash advances in the PI. Of course there is a handling charge (HSBC & Barclaycard Visa is 1.5%) when making a cash advance. Looking back on our monthly statement we found that we have got a good exchange rate when using the cards. If you can not obtain a good discount paying cash, paying by credit card works out cheaper than paying the ""marked price"" because of the handling charge when obtaining the cash advance on your credit card. ATMs are becoming more available in the provincial towns but if there is any doubt draw out enough cash before you leave the city to be on the safe side. I am probably ""teaching you to suck eggs"" here Corrine but I will mention it anyway. The guys have already mentioned about being careful around the machines. I usually stand watch whilst Neng operates the ATM. Only take out on the street only the card/cards that you are going to use that day. Keep the cards that you are not going to use that day in your hotel safe deposit box. If you are taking multiple cards out on the street keep them separate i.e. not all in the same wallet. When carrying out payments for items using your cards do not let the card out of your sight at any time. Keep your emergency phone number for stolen or loss cards on you at all times. If you have written down your PIN somewhere make sure that it is safe but not with your cards! Always carry a little cash hidden on your person for emergencies. This is all obvious I know but you will be surprised how these simply rules slip when you are under pressure (the kids giving you a hard time etc) when you are trying to pay for things and bundle everything back in your bag.

Thank you so much for info. and advice. I certainly appreciate them and I will be wary...Its been a while since I had to watch every move I make while on holiday. But, I understand simple common sense is valuable to a relaxing holiday away from the City and the rat race can just stop for a while. I needed to be reminded of this little things as I am ussually a trustful person under circumstances. But, like you say we tend to forget simple safety precautions when dealing with other things such as kids and your mind is occupied to notice anything un-ussual around you. Thank you!

We are not divers, nor particularly into hanging out at bars. What does Bantayan have to offer in terms of natural setting, fairly peaceful and beautiful surroundings, a resort with class and attentiveness? We went to Malapasqua last Christmastime and were very disappointed -feces and garbage on the beach and in the water, a noisy disco at one end and a noisy karaoke at the other. We are going back to Siquijor at this time but would also like to try another area, like Bantayan. I no longer trust Lonely Planet guide as they mislead totally about Malapasqua. They are also off about other places. They say Subic has nice beaches! Thanks for any info about Bantayan

If the soaps and chocolates are difficult to get in the Philippines, it's no wonder she prefers to carry it halfway round the world. But duty free shops carry such a variety of things and yes we do have Marks & Spencer in the Philippines. It may be a good idea to just buy these on your arrival if you have to pay for excess baggage.

I suspect you may also be able to just find a well educated local that would be willing to do tutoring, perhaps a local neighbor who would do a reasonable tutoring job, at a more reasonable cost. Formerly one of my wife's relatives lived with us while we send her to college for two years. This young lady tutored our children, but she has now graduated, and returned to her home on another island. My wife and I are considering finding and hiring a local neighbor to tutor our two children who are age 5 and 7. We are considering a local smart high school student that my wife knows, and also potentially one of my wife's friends who is a college graduate but under employed. Many well educated people here are under employed. Friends, family, and local schools should certainly be helpful in finding a tutor.

If the lady is from the provinces and has not had much exposure to English, tutoring might be a good idea. If, however, she has studied English in school, has used it, but not very much, and just needs practice and confidence, I would recommend not even bothering with RP-side tutoring, as the money might better be spent on something of more practical use. If questioned in depth, many of our ladies will admit that one of their greatest fears when coming to the US is of language, of their inability to understand and respond. Fact is, with their exposure to English in school, the media, and with you, they are better prepared than they think. To be tutored in English by a local and to pick up a bad accent and speech patterns might do more harm than good (if they already have the familiarity with English). It is the idiom, rhythm and local US accent which they need most and can seldom obtain from an RP-based tutor. Once in the US, a parttime job and a single ESL class will give them all the help they need.

You're right Mita - my wife learned that on her visit home to Cebu last month. She packed all sorts of things like chocolate, lotions etc. After she got there she visited the duty free store and found most of those things available and priced even cheaper than what she paid in the US. Next time she will only take things that are not available in the RP - but I think that most things are available over there at cheaper prices. Plus it helps the local economy to buy there.

hi all, i am looking for IT resources in the PI. Have been in contact with a stateside company who is looking for a local agency/company that they can subcontract a major rollout out in PI. 1900 sites (3 year project) need A+, MCSE, cabling(possible fiber) and installers. Pilot program in early Jan 03. this has the potentail to be a very large project. any ideas..

I've noticed the same thing with Lonely Planet. They unintentionaly glamorize the unglamorous places by not reporting the negatives for a true description. Also, Lonely Planet prices seem to be off anywhere from 30-50% even on the most current printings. Some could say this is due to currency devaluation, inflation, etc but nevertheless, you can't count on what they say as gospel. My mother, who is a tour guide for Europe, has seen many shocked tourists who chose their vacation destinations because of what they read in Lonely Planet and then were disappointed as you were. Even more disappointed when they couldn't afford to buy souveniers because they didn't bring enough money. Roan, the majority of the Philippines looks and sounds much the way you described. I think maybe the islands surrounding Palawan could be the hot ticket for what you're looking for. Although I haven't been there, I've heard they're pretty much unmolested with lots of history and nature. Good luck!

Bantayan has a beautiful, clean white sand beach in the town of Santa Fe and many resorts at various prices. I have not seen nice beaches in other parts of the island. My gf is from Bantayan, and the last time we went there we stayed at the Kota Beach Resort. This is one of the cheaper resorts, simple but still clean and on the nicest part of the beach. We were there about two months ago during a very slow tourist period and were able to negotiate a price of P350 per night for our own non-aircon cabin, right on the beach, 50 meters from the water. As a Bantayana, my gf knew who the owner was and talked directly with her, so I'm not sure everyone could have got that price. Nevertheless, the regular price was about P550, so still reasonable even at full price. At the other end of the price range, the Ogtong Cave Resort will run you around P1,500 and up. Much nicer facility with a swimming pool, but only a small beach. There are only a few bars and western style restaurants outside the resorts. I particularly like The Jungle, a bar/restaurant run by a German guy and his wife. If you like the beach and want to spend quiet days reading or swimming, then Bantayan is the place for you. Not much else to do. There is no night life to speak of, outside of a few local style discos and a couple of tourist oriented bars. I would recommend renting a small motorbike and touring the island. Bantayanos are very friendly and love to see foreigners, particularly when you get outside of Santa Fe. You will feel like a movie star!

I have made up two computers this end and taken them both to the PI Each time I brought everything to the PI except the monitor. We bought new monitors in the PI I built the units up with ATX Midi towers so they were not too big. After commissioning the units I took out the floppies, CD ROM and the twin hard drives. Each drive was packed in ""Anti Static Bags"" and then wrapped in ""bubble wrap"". As well as being damaged by static the drives can be easily damaged by mechanical shock, especially the hard drives! These I took as hand luggage. I wrapped the cases in ""bubble wrap"" and manufactured a cardboard box out of double thickness cardboard myself. I printed off large home made stickers marking the box as ""Fragile-This Way up"". This went as ""Hold luggage"". The keyboard, mouse, surge suppressor and cables went in my suitcase with my normal luggage. On both occasions Paul there was no damage or faults on the computers when they were reassembled. Both are still in use today (Unless David Whittall has snaffled the motherboard out of one!). On both occasions the customs official asked what was in the box when we arrived in the PI. I told him it was my computer, he waved me through and was not interested. Paul I suggest getting an AVR with battery back up for those Brown/Black outs. APC have a factory and website in the PI and can be bought at a reasonable price. I also recommend a supply surge suppressor between your PC and the AVR as well to take care of those fast transient voltages (Clichés) that will take out your PC switch mode power supply like no bodies business. In five years of operation in our little office in Tabunok (Talisay City) we have experienced no hardware failure (touch wood). We have not lost/corrupted any operating system, application or data files due to mains supply problems. We do have a U/S Fax machine which has a stuffed MPU however. This took a hit when it was not plugged into the surge suppressor!

It does not look like the dive trip to the Sprattley Islands is coming off. We will be coming up to Malapascua for a week during February regardless and hope to do some diving up at your neck of the woods. Is there much for Neng and the daughters to do whilst I am blowing bubbles? The girls are 4 and 7 years old.

Lots of good seafood in Cebu. Actually the food court in Ayala Mall has lots of good seafood. Also I have eaten at Rasky's also in the mall. If it is your first visit be sure and visit the Taoist Temple over looking the city. Be careful always but expecially if traveling at night. We used Southwind Tours to travel around Cebu and the south and found them to be trustworthy and safe.

My family hails from Bantayan. Bantayan is very laid back. There isn't much night life, and the townsfolk are very conservative. If you are looking for a classy resort with a lot of night life, Boracay will be your kind of place. Bantayan is pretty much just the beach and eating seafood.

In Japan, the vernal exquinox and the atumnal exquinox are very big holidays, second only to 'Golden Week' in the summer, and more important to many that golden week, because the equinoxese, equini.. (whatever) are the days when you visit your ancestor's graves. The Emporer's Birthday is always a national holiday in Japan. After an emporewr dies, his birthday is kept as a holiday, but given another name. There are I think three holidays like that now.. if they get a run of short-lived emporers, in a hundred years or so, they may never have a workday on the calendar ;) Filipinos have many stalwart characteristics, but when it comes to excuses for time off, they're just babes in the woods LoL

I have lived in Makati, specifically Legaspi Village, on several occaisions. I usually paid about $400 for a one bedroom condo. I was there for ten days last week and was told apartments and condos were readily available in Legaspi.

Next week, Asawa and I are heading to Malapascua for the first time. Yours is the first negative report I read about the island. Hopefully, we won't encounter the same problems. I always dread the thought of swimming with little brown boats. Anyway, my wife and I have been all over the Phillipines and Subic area is certainly one of my favorites. If you checkout our website www.geocities.com/cletusmavel and click on the ""Luzon"" button, you'll find quite a bit of information about Baloy Beach and other resorts further north (eg. Iba). But if you really want to get away from it all, you may want to try Guimaras Island, just outside of Iloilo City. Close to the city of Nueva Valencia there is a group of resorts on a beautiful beach without any discos or karaoke bars. I'd recommend Raymen Beach Cottages ... very nice accomodations and cheap prices. Have you been to Moalboal? This is my favorite resort area on Cebu Island. This place has got just about everything you need for a resort area. There's not much of a beach here, but there's a place called ""white beach"" just a few kilometers away. I recommend Quo Vadis for hotel accomodations. You can also read about this place on our website. Just click the ""Cebu"" button.

You'll have a great time on Malapascua. Here's some free advice: 1) Take the public banka from Maya. The pinoy price is P20, the ex-pat price is P50, the tourist/foreigner price is P100. Pat whichever you feel comfortable with. 2) On arrival, drop your bags at the Blue Water Resort. Have a nice relaxing lunch, and afterwards spend an hour or so looking at the different accomodations. The Blue Water should offer its beach side Nipa Hut for P500/night, and if they don't just tell them that you have friends who've stayed with them and that's what they pay. Also look at the Blue Coral, which is the large, new hotel built on the western edge of the white beach. We stayed in an end room fpr P600/night, and loved it. 3) Malditos is open 7 nights a week and offers nice music on weekends. make sure you pay close attention to their happy hour prices for local drinks. Took me too long to figure it out. 4) The best restaurant on the Island is La Isla Bonita. Must stop in. Wonderful family run place, though a few pisos more than Malditos or the Hotel restaurants. 5) If you have time & the budget hire a banka to take you up to Carnessa for a full day. If you see Osmena say hi to him for me. Try to set aside a whole day, and leave by 9am. That'll give you pleanty of time to get there, bbq on the beach, and hike the island. Look for the cave used by the Japanese during WWII. Its even better if you can hire the boat for an overnight trip, and camp on the Island. 6) Leave time to hike Malapascua (1/2 day) at your leisure. 7) On the way to La Isla Bonita, you'll pass a small bar at the east side of the whie beach that has the most stunning waitresses I've ever seen in the PR. What was truly amazing to me was that they were pushing 30, and didn't look a day over 18. After 4 days of happy hours, my asawa got wise to me and told me no more. 8) If you ask the Hotel, they can find a massuse for you. We paid P200, for 2 massages, each of which was 1 hour. Anita then joined us on the boat ride up to Carnessa the next day. Since this advice is offered for free, do with it as you see fit. Please let us know how your trip goes.

Pro sports are not available in the Cebu except for some minor league basketball, a little billiards, actually just nine ball pool, very popular with the foreigners and the locals, and maybe an occasional boxing match. If there were something of note, there are several members I sure, including me, who would go with you. We are discussing forming a Carabao Polo league, pro, *no*, but fun, yes. Setting it up is a chore. And funding it will be a challenge. But there are several of us on a very inactive mailing list, ready to give it a try. I am working with an lawyer now to make it official. While waiting for that proposed annual international athletic extravaganza, you will have to be satisfied with cable TV, I am afraid. Forget US pro football. And baseball coverage is sparse too. But there are many international football games and golf on ESPN.

Mady and I are still 12-15 years from retirement, still we stop by to scan the topics to see what relates to our interests. We plan to vist Cebu/Visayas, tour around, and take notes during vacations...so 12 years is probably just what we need to finish our homework. YOU live in a place that sounds exactly like what interests Mady and me. I am not looking to retire to a mansion for $500+ per month. Mady doesn't want to live in a fancy home or in other ways materially far different from her family (I agree). But we do want a safe, reasonably clean, comfortable, smaller home neighborhood...slightly multicultural would be nice (all expats would not). Being curious, we search the web occassionally to see what ""Cebu real estate"" will pop up. But mostly we see very expensive cosmopolitan properties on glossy websites...almost as expensive as similar properties in northern VA. (where we live now). Again, retirement is still far off for us, but I'd be interested in any comments you might have. Can we find what I've described in Cebu for $100/mon. or less? Also, Mady doesn't mind renting for time enough to ""test drive"" neighborhoods, but she would prefer to buy eventally. We want a modest and comfortable place of good quality. We're both teachers from families of teachers and would feel uncomfortable in anything too upscale.

I live in Cebu, so I thought I'd reply to your post. You cannot rent an apartment for $100 a month. Maybe around 7000 pesos you'll get a decent 1-2 bedroom apartment in a not-so-fancy neighborhood. For 5000 pesos (about $100) or less, you can rent a bedroom, usually with its own entrance and bathroom, and maybe furnished. These are not upscale rates but what locals pay for average accomodations. At least, those are what you can expect here in Cebu City.

G'Day, going on Tan's predictions for the Peso, US$100 a month in 12 years should get you half of Malacanang Palace! At the moment all the places listed int he ads are upscale, or prices are not included. Of course asking price is always way above what you will get it for. Cebu City is more expensive than Bogo, but I know of apartments in Mactan going for P5000, Define ""decent""! Actually they are fine, but without western toilets etc. After a while you get used to using a ladle to flush the loo. Bogo is nice and quiet. Apparently I live near the rough end of town, but you could have fooled me. It is quiet as the grave here after 10pm unless there is a Fiesta on, in which case if it is within a five mile radius you will get no sleep so go away for a few days. If you want to buy a house now and let us look after it for you for nominal rent I will consider it :) Meanwhile I am home for the first night in three or four and loving it. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home. If you have any specific questions, just email, . If you want to move up here, go to the other side, San Remigio or Medellin, the beaches are nicer