Cebu quiet? Possible?

@Moab762

Hi, If you want to live in a quiet place come to Newcoast Boracay. There are condos for rent (USD 750+/month) for rent and for sale (110+k USD). It is an US Style Condo complex.

Very few people are there.

Andy

...Even buying online is problematic. I used to buy about 100+ products a year from AliExpress when I lived in the US. But the Phillipines is far down the list if priorities for the China owners of most online retail here. Even AliExpress is very different from the US.

AliExpress?

Why not Lazada?

or

Shopee?

Moab762 said . . . . Even buying online is problematic. I used to buy about 100+ products a year from AliExpress when I lived in the US. But the Phillipines is far down the list if priorities for the China owners of most online retail here. Even AliExpress is very different from the US. Search results are degraded by bad algorithms. And because our internet is routed thru Manilla - all but one major online retailer blocks us from even seeing any goods or sellers from Visayas (including Cebu). Everything must come from Manilla/Luzon. Which means alot ends up not being shipped. And we blocked from buying anything from Cebu.

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Aidan in HCMC suggested Lazada or Shopee, I agree, been using shopee for seven years.

Just recently I ordered from Temu, delivery was very quick and their tracking was very good. But be careful, amongst all their gems there is a lot of crapola, the products misrepresented.

Lazada and shoppee are both China owned as well. And handle location as IP location in the same way. Trust me. I've spent months trying to change this. Bought additional sim cards, created new accounts laptop only, spoken to their deep customer service and tech people. The companies that own the large Phillipines online retailers have reprioritized the Phillipines to last over the other nations they sell too.

Your Lazada and Shoppee probably work. Because your internet sends your IP thru a Visayas location. Mine goes thru Manilla. And once it does that you can't fix it and Lazada, Aliexpress and Aliaban to Shopee don't take the ability to fix that. I don't know if it's lack of database professionals in the PH. Which would make sense - much better money could be had working elsewhere. Or if just a matter of them degrading the value of their PH business.

But even if I was able to fix this issue. My last 22 orders were stolen by customs here at the airport. Which apparently happens frequently. Except most shipments now get combined into entire shipping containers. And it's the entire container that probably goes missing. So all of my orders over the course of several days or weeks got combined into probably one container. That to was followed up on with countless hours if research going to the airport, trying to deal with online retailers. In the jed it's not worth it. These systems are fatally flawed. Their reals if complaints like this on reddit. It's not just me.

I've let it go. Not even following up on the missing orders anymore. After dozens of hours repeating the same processes and getting nowhere. You have to move on.

Which is why I'm trying Cebu. I should be able to order online there as long as my local ip routes thru Cebu. But more importantly I have access to all the businesses and stores fed directly by the Cebu international port.

I'm not dead yet. But it is "death by a thousand cuts".  I'm fairly honest, analytical person. I know the pros and cons here. I see clearly where it works and where it doesn't. I have certain attributes that lends itself to here that give me an advantage. Creating a homestead is doable and gets you out of the problems with infrastructure and noise if I do it right.

The other way to do here is the condo in BGC type thing. Just not my scene. I prefer the outdoors and wildness. I'm just to much of a light sleeper to do constant noise. For sure the base in karaoke or music. I simply can't sleep thru. And the dogs and chickens are ok as long as not to many and to close. It's an amazing Phillipine trait to be able to function with that much noise. Lol! I praise them for that.

@Moab762

And yet both Shopee and Lazada retailers will ship to even the most remote villages/islands in Vietnam, many of which have a population much lower than the 90,000 of Panglou.

Lazada is a Philippines company. I'm very surprised to learn they won't deliver to your location, especially if the item you order is already held at a Lazada warehouse in the Philippines.

I feel your pain, Moab. We lived for several years in a high-end condo above Cebu that wasn't too bad for noise, but of course you had to go out into the madness that is Cebu City. We live  near Valencia now (Dumaguete), because we have two boys in private schools, and it's a lot better, but there's still local noise - dogs, roosters, motorbikes going by on the dirt road, but very little karaoke or loud music. Almost always quiet at night, like most of this area. And plenty of amenities near by.

However the quietest place I've been in the PH is the home we built 3 years ago up on the mountain, near Argao and Dalaguete, on southern Cebu island. It's where my gf grew up and it is really quiet. Nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees at night, but 5km from the highway, so very remote. Scary remote in some ways, if you get my drift - if you have trouble there you're on your own.

We built a small 2 bdrm/2 ba home with a big balcony on a large overlooking lot there, with unobstructed 180 deg views of the Bohol Sea, local terrain, and the mountains. Gorgeous sunrises, and hardly a house to be seen for miles, although there are some local neighbors behind us, who are good people. Very few foreigners in the area. We go there to relax, and she grows stuff. But there's not much to do except maintain the house and land. It's province life, but okay for us when we're there, as we aren't drinkers or partiers either. In bed early and up with the sun.

Another option if you want to go big - a lot of expats are building nice homes in Dauin, up on the hill overlooking Apo Island. Super quiet,  and you get a nice view, a nice breeze too, and it's close to Dumaguete - but the lots have gotten too expensive for my taste. Like 5-7M for a decent sized view lot.. and you still have to build, and you're still in a developing country..  Geez, I can buy land in rural Colorado for that, so it would be hard for me to justify it, personally, but many do.

Well, I guess my point is there *are* quiet places around, you just gotta keep looking around and find them.

@Moab762
And yet both Shopee and Lazada retailers will ship to even the most remote villages/islands in Vietnam, many of which have a population much lower than the 90,000 of Panglou.
Lazada is a Philippines company. I'm very surprised to learn they won't deliver to your location, especially if the item you order is already held at a Lazada warehouse in the Philippines. - @Aidan in HCMC

There is some confusion regarding the beneficial ownership of the above 2 online retailers.

For the record Shopee (I nearly spelt it with 2 'P' s) is a Singaporean oufit owned by Sea Ltd. Lazada is owned by the goliath Chinese online retailer, the Alibaba group. However it started out as a German company before being purchased by the current Chinese owners. To the OP I'm surprised Shopee does not work. You say your IP goes through Manila. Bob lives in Manila and has had a good experience with Shopee probably because they are Singaporean.

@Aidan in HCMC

It's not a Lazada policy. Their system just has a major fault. If your ISP ends up routing your IP thru Manilla, Lazada's system uses that IP location as your location. Even if your delivery address is different. Like mine in Bohol. Once their system does this they have no mechanism to manually change it. So your stuck. The same thing could happen to someone in Manilla if their ISP routed them thru Cebu.

Often times when forced to buy something from Manilla. It never ships. I think because the seller sees I'm actually all the way down in Bohol and they want to spend their profit shipping it all the way down here. So they just wait for the order to cancel.

Its like when you return something to J&T from Lazada. They question you as to why your returning the item. Even after you've already settled this with the seller (Lazada) and your left wondering "why is the shipper asking me why I'm returning an item? That's kind of rude. That has nothing to do with me and the shipper. Lazada has already approved my return or I wouldn't be here with my return notification and barcode ".

The reason why is Lazada used to use J&Ts database to track returns. They now have their own system on the Lazada website. So there are two separate database. And Lazada is to cheap to fix the one they have with J&T or replace it.

It's just all old or dysfunctional cheaply managed technology. That China does not want to spend any time on.

They also dropped their cheap shipping policy to the Phillipines last spring. So alot of items like in AliExpress come with ridiculous shipping fees. Far higher than anyone would ever pay. I'm not sure why they even bother listing these items.

@pnwcyclist

Another option if you want to go big - a lot of expats are building nice homes in Dauin, up on the hill overlooking Apo Island. Super quiet.

Are they aware of the proposed new airport due to be built in Bacong next door to Dauin?

I feel your pain, Moab. We lived for several years in a high-end condo above Cebu that wasn't too bad for noise, but of course you had to go out into the madness that is Cebu City. We live near Valencia now (Dumaguete), because we have two boys in private schools, and it's a lot better, but there's still local noise - dogs, roosters, motorbikes going by on the dirt road, but very little karaoke or loud music. Almost always quiet at night, like most of this area. And plenty of amenities near by.
However the quietest place I've been in the PH is the home we built 3 years ago up on the mountain, near Argao and Dalaguete, on southern Cebu island. It's where my gf grew up and it is really quiet. Nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees at night, but 5km from the highway, so very remote. Scary remote in some ways, if you get my drift - if you have trouble there you're on your own.

We built a small 2 bdrm/2 ba home with a big balcony on a large overlooking lot there, with unobstructed 180 deg views of the Bohol Sea, local terrain, and the mountains. Gorgeous sunrises, and hardly a house to be seen for miles, although there are some local neighbors behind us, who are good people. Very few foreigners in the area. We go there to relax, and she grows stuff. But there's not much to do except maintain the house and land. It's province life, but okay for us when we're there, as we aren't drinkers or partiers either. In bed early and up with the sun.

Another option if you want to go big - a lot of expats are building nice homes in Dauin, up on the hill overlooking Apo Island. Super quiet, and you get a nice view, a nice breeze too, and it's close to Dumaguete - but the lots have gotten too expensive for my taste. Like 5-7M for a decent sized view lot.. and you still have to build, and you're still in a developing country.. Geez, I can buy land in rural Colorado for that, so it would be hard for me to justify it, personally, but many do.

Well, I guess my point is there *are* quiet places around, you just gotta keep looking around and find them. - @pnwcyclist

Your place in Cebu is exactly what I'm hoping to build. But maybe within more reasonable driving distance to Cebu City. Like a once a month or every two weeks trip into town for any supplies we might need. My GF and I are the same as you guys. We just want to work on the homestead. Stay home. Enjoy the nature. Not big socializers or drinkers. She is from Carmen. I am from a small mountain town in the PNW.

I have a friend in Valencia. He just bought property and is building. And I was shocked by how much he was spending too. A tiny overlooking lot was 60k USD. I could buy hectares for that on Bohol. And the price of the home he is building is way more than I would ever aoend for what he is getting. Like 300k USD. I don't get it? That seems way out of line for any prices I have seen near me.

I've never been to Duma. But I'm not a big expat person. Not that I don't want friends. It just seems more geared towards that.

My plan was building in the mountains if WA where I am from. Those plans died with ridiculous real estate prices increases. Then my plan for years was NW Montana. I have relatives that live there. Land is fairly cheap. Not like here cheap. But building was still substantial. And off grid systems on top of that. I simply couldn't afford it.

So I came here. We'll see what happens. I've spent since last spring adjusting, getting established, traveling some around Bohol. Meeting others who have built. Buying a new car. And some other stuff to get established.

But with the local selection of goods and my difficulties with online shopping. I realized supplying an off grid homestead build and just general diy stuff (which doesn't really exist here - meaning a market for people doing DIY) I realized I needed to be within driving distance of a major port. And the businesses that port supports.

I also had an experience taking possession of a spare tire for my new 4x4 from Cebu. It was a spare tire. It was like a scene out of 1984. It took hours, 12 different stamps and permits from different windows sometimes feet apart and a visit to the port police to get a signature. You'd think I was importing a fleet of vehicles from Dubai or something. The fees totalled $1.78 USD - paid in tiny increments to at least 5 different people. Lol!

I can just imagine buying anything on Cebu and having it transported over here to Bohol.

The search is so corrupted on the online sites for me that finding even something with average specs takes hours of scrolling. And local stores are not well stocked. That takes driving around all over town. To 5 different hardware stores.

I realized that it took hours to aquire things that were basic and necessary. (It wasn't like I was looking for something highly technical or high quality. Just basic stuff. Like wire connectors.) And that if we were going to start a homestead it was going take 5 times as long to just get things. Everything just took way to much effort.

I think my IP address will resolve itself in Cebu. And I will have access to all the goods coming into the second largest port in the PH. Or one of the largest.

Would love to discuss your build in Cebu sometime. That sounds very interesting. I have come to realize that if I want quiet I'm going to have to buy a large plot of land far out. Which is fine. That was my plan all along. But in the interim, while spending probably the year, exploring the island and land before we decide where to settle. I'm hoping to find a fairly quiet place that won't break my sanity. Research has me pointed in the direction of Busay/Babag north of the city in the hills. But long term I'm more interested in being further outside the city.

@Moab762
And yet both Shopee and Lazada retailers will ship to even the most remote villages/islands in Vietnam, many of which have a population much lower than the 90,000 of Panglou.
Lazada is a Philippines company. I'm very surprised to learn they won't deliver to your location, especially if the item you order is already held at a Lazada warehouse in the Philippines. - @Aidan in HCMC
There is some confusion regarding the beneficial ownership of the above 2 online retailers.
For the record Shopee (I nearly spelt it with 2 'P' s) is a Singaporean oufit owned by Sea Ltd. Lazada is owned by the goliath Chinese online retailer, the Alibaba group. However it started out as a German company before being purchased by the current Chinese owners. To the OP I'm surprised Shopee does not work. You say your IP goes through Manila. Bob lives in Manila and has had a good experience with Shopee probably because they are Singaporean. - @Lotus Eater

Shopee does the same thing. It won't work in my phone unless I give up all of my US apps. It's a Phillipines only app. And lengthy attempts to use just the website and my laptop ended with the same problem. No products showing for Cebu. And no filter for ship from south of Luzon. They apparently use the same IP info as your location.

TikTok Shop works after a lengthy work around involving 2 new sim cards and not using my ISP/Wifi. I have to sit outside using data on my cell. Mainly the same stores and platform. But it's reported the same thing will happen with it's algorithm as has happened with the others. To much cramming click bait down your throat and search results are corrupted beyond use. But TikTok should work for awhile.

Trying to find say electrical connectors gets you only the cheapest variety not made from tinned copper or even copper. Trying to search by specific specs gets you nothing but the cheap stuff they want you to buy. Or page after page of items not related to your search (glue rat traps for instance. Lol)  Even after confirming with AI that specific specs products are sold like on Lazada. But it's impossible to find them.

I've spent the better part of two months trying to get this to work. All the sites are widely criticized on reddit for not working. I think I made AI cry. I know I almost did several times. Lmao!

In the US AliExpress works great. I was buying 150+ products a year. And the search is not corrupted. Shipping fees are still reasonable.

I've stopped trying here in Bohol. Time to cut bait. Move to my third location since last spring. We aren't giving up. I think being driving distance a couple times a month from Cebu will solve most of this.

@pnwcyclist
Another option if you want to go big - a lot of expats are building nice homes in Dauin, up on the hill overlooking Apo Island. Super quiet.

Are they aware of the proposed new airport due to be built in Bacong next door to Dauin? - @Lotus Eater

Yes of course, although many will say that it will be years before it impacts them, if at all.