Welcoming place
That said, I have traveled widely in Asia, Europe and Mexico and have lived all over the U.S. In my experience, few places are as welcoming.
At various times, my wife and I have lived in different parts of the Philippines. We first bought a beach lot and built a home in Bubog, a village outside the city of San Jose on the island of Mindoro. We then bought a condo in Manila, the capital.
Today, we live in the city of Lapu Lapu on Mactan Island. We’re part of the metropolitan area of Cebu, the second-largest population center in the Philippines, with more than three million people. Our house is just 20 minutes from Mactan-Cebu International Airport, a jumping-off point for, among other cities, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Most of the streets on the island are crowded with pedestrians, goats, bikes, motorcycles, taxi cabs, private cars, trucks and small van-like buses. You weave your way through the tangle and, unless you are in a big hurry, it all flows along. We own a car, but other forms of transportation are readily available and cheap. For less than a dollar, you can hop on the back of a motorcycle-taxi, if you are comfortable with such thrills.
Our four-bedroom home sits in a beachfront resort. (Note: Expats must be married to a Filipino to buy a house. Otherwise, options include buying a condo, renting, or buying a house on a leasehold basis.) The weather played an important part in choosing this area: Our particular island is sheltered by other, larger islands, which tend to take the brunt of the periodic typhoons that hit the Philippines.
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