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.

***************************

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.

@Moab762

Have you tried a VPN. You can get an IP from wherever you like.

I'm just  PH visitor but I use a dedicated VPN when I access some US sites that block me when I'm in the Philippines.

@dennis4040

VPN has no effect. I've used a high quality paid VPN for years.

Part of it is where your IP originates from by your internet service provider. And the other part is a security algorithm or policy. That treats changing locations as a huge negative. It's cheaper for them to simply block users that don't fall into the vast majority of low security risks. Kind of how their search does not allow for accurate limiting of products you're specifically looking for. Because in average (across all the citizens) they make more money pushing low ball crap, impulse products. It's kind of like a casino. They aren't interested in getting people to come back because you can find what you need. They follow the oath of lear resistance to get the most money out of "most" of the people. When most of the people fall for cheap impulse buys. They no longer cater to buyers or sellers looking for specific things.

I'm moving to Cebu next week. Even though my ISP may route me correctly thru Cebu. Because my account was originally geo located in Luzon, in the north, the security policy will most likely still limit me to Luzon.

This is a Phillipines specific issue. For instance the AliExpress app in the US is very good. But you get the Phillipines version here. Like Choice doesn't exist on the Phillipines version. And it's geared to sell to Filipinos. Which apparently they view as I pulse buyers mainly. It is also China's least emphasized market. Meaning their focus to improve it falls dead last in the order of countries they sell in.

I've researched this alot. Simply because I'm trying very hard to figure out how to effectively homestead here. I'm literally moving from Bohol to Cebu Island because I don't have access to the same level of goods and services. At least with it's international port and airport I can drive into Cebu City and obtain access to goods and services. It's a poor substitute to being able to use say AliExpress like I did in America. And could live anywhere I wanted. But it works.

And that's the Phillipines. If it works? It's "good enough". Often times that's the best you can hope for. But still I can afford a homestead here that I simply can not afford in the US. Without A LOT of sacrifice. As it's probably 5 times more expensive.

Good luck with the move Moab.

Maybe I'm a dumb sh1t but I've watched all this stuff about VPN's for 10/15 years on expat sites and my mind boggles the reason why. I know the better half had a VPN when we lived in Australia so he could play his computer game while living there for years to access the Asian site but for me? I can't see the point as living here in PH for the last 7 years we use the local internet and local mobile phones. All my business/financial dealings are in Australia and OTP's are simply sent to my PH mobile or an app from some businesses on my PH phone for authentication. Maybe other countries have different rules?

As for your OP. Quiet? In a city? I grew up in inner Melbourne Oz for 20 years and got out off the rat race when I hit 21, love the country/kick back life and I have found it here in one of the provinces on the beach up in La Union, better half is happy 30/40 minutes drive to the 5,000 relatives depending on traffic, great private hospital, shopping malls, all we need 30 minutes drive. The local town is 4 klicks away offering fast foods, wet market, night market, supermarket etc. Where we live is super quiet, no roosters, barking dogs (only our 2 Labrador's now and again) limited to no burning off and usually leaves, no traffic noise, a genuinely pleasant place to live very similar to our farm on the Sunshine Coast back in Oz.

Honestly Moab it took near 4 years of searching and looking to find our bit of utopia and seems the neighbours are of the same mindset, most westerners and snow birders with live in caretakers.

We are 35/40 minutes north of San Fernando City where the better half's family live and was never a choice for us but given you know the area there are plenty of places in the district that offer quiet.

Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl

I'm not looking "in" Cebu City. I'm looking on Cebu Island up to an hour or two outside of the city.

I started in San Fernando La Union. Lived on the beach in a top floor condo of sorts. My gf is from Bohol. So we moved here to find cheap homestead land. But the lack of being able to obtain goods and services has led us to move to Cebu Island where we can at least drive into Cebu City and find goods and services. But still be able to move far enough away from the city to have similar remote land like on Bohol. Cebu Island is actually quite a bit longer than Bohol. Not that I want to be that far away. I think the southern end is like a 6 hour drive from the city.

@Moab762.

Great choice not to live in a/any city. Take your time to find your bit of paradise and then enjoy life.

Cheers, Steve.

@Moab762

Just rereading your/our posts. Seems for some reason you have problems with Shopee and Lazada, not sure why but I have a mate in Dauin Visayas and has no problems getting stuff from the above 2 sellers. We are 6 hours north of Manila and for the hundreds of orders over the last 7/8 years have been faultless with those 2 companies,,,,,,,,, a couple of problems with sellers but not the franchises. Our ordered goods are 2 to 4 days, if they come from China it can be 10 to 14 days. We often get stuff if supplied from Bulacan can be the next day or 36 hours. Perhaps get off your VPN for local orders? Just a thought.

As for a place to live that's quiet, rent for awhile and boots on the ground. Our searches were near 4 years in the making and much to the better half's disgust When I thought I found the right place on the beach I/we would arrive at 5 am, go off and wander around the area, come back at lunch time, go back to our A B &B for lunch and then come back at 7/8 pm, better half hated it but my final years I wanted quiet.

It was well worth it as we met many of the locals, mostly foreigners and we learnt heaps, As said the better half was pissed off with my antics but at the end of the day it was my money and knew my final resting place. That was 9 years ago and 7 years living here have not looked back nor regretted the research before taking the plunge, Better half and I are very happy and he sees my reasoning for early morning and late at night sitting in the car with the window down listening and watching, not much to hear and even less to see, 4 klicks from town, a winner for us.

No need to. rush into anything.

Cheers, Steve.

Since my girlfriend is from Lapu Lapu (I am in the UK), I did a little research and there is a pace 1 to 1.5 hours from Cebu City called Balamban which is nestled in the cooler hills of Western Cebu. What I read said it offered a peaceful lifestyle surrounded by lush greenery, mountain air and a strong connection to nature with cooler temperatures than in the city. Access to Cebu City is by the Transcentral Highway which is a winding mountain road offering great views. You may want to check it out.

Cherry, the strong connection to nature could be roosters, dogs, goats, cows, pigs, ducks and ignorant neighbours. Boots on the ground and plenty of research. Could it be like living in Baguio? While it offers most things and a cooler temperatures but? 1 and a half hours of winding roads and slow trucks to make it to the main highway and a further hour to an expressway???? The summer capitol of the Philippines?

Bit like San Juan the surfing capital of Luzon that has outpaced itself, cost prohibitive for property or even a coffee and a nightmare with all the rubber necks on weekends coming up from Manila and as ignorant as hell.

20 minutes north and silence, the squid boats on the ocean after sunset and deserted through the day but each to their own.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl

The problem with online is my geo location. And the overly simplified security policies. I stayed in La Union 9 months ago. (Luzon - north of Manilla. Home to the largest sellers in the north part of PH)) That's where I set up my online shopping accounts. The online systems identified me by name, phone number and my location. Amongst other things. When I searched online and ordered I mainly got sellers closest to me in Manilla. No problems.

Then I moved to Bohol. Just south of the second largest city (home to the largest sellers in the south part of the PH).

My Bohol ISP routes my IP thru Manilla. And because my account was formerly a Manilla area account. Their systems refuse to show me any listings outside of Manilla. Part of it is it sees me as a Manilla area customer. But also their fraud policies (dictated by an algorithm that can not be changed) also refuse to show me any listings south of Manilla.

I could go into more detail but your brain would probably crack in two. As mine did during the months of trying to fix this. I followed this as far as possible with each companies deepest support channels. And work arounds that included getting an entirely new phone number. And a long list of other things.

Nothing changes it. Because my online accounts were first geo located in Luzon. I can only see sellers from Luzon or Manilla.

The problems go on from there. Like their search function completely sucks if your trying to buy anything with specs. Like "tinned copper electrical connectors". That's a specific high quality level of electrical connector. Sold by many vendors on Lazada. But they won't come up in my search results. Instead I'll see only the cheap fake goliah copper connectors that are made of brass or some lesser pot metal. And then you'll see a ton of results for crap that has nothing to do with what you searched for. Their algorithm is basically sending whatever crap they got others to "impulse" buy. Rather than what you are specifically looking for.

Bored out if your mind yet? Ya.  Me too. I gave up. I'm moving to Cebu. And I'm going to shop like it's 1984. I'm going to drive around until I find all the electronics stores I can. And shop in person. I say "drive around" because a very few percentage of businesses actual list themselves (for free!) on Google. So you can't even do a search for "electronics store" that even shows you where they are all. Nobody even uses Google Maps here. Lol! The world is at their fingertips. The OH holds the record for country with the most texts in one day. More than any other country by like 3 times more! But they refuse to use Google. And see the internet as Facebook only. Like it's 1998 and all we have is AOL.

It's basically 1998 here. And they use Facebook like it's AOL. And think that is the internet. Try to find a businesses website? Half the Toyota dealerships don't eve have a working website. Let alone one that shows inventory. National Toyota publishes a .pdf of countrywide inventory of their used cars. Mayne once a month. Ya. A drinking .pdf!!!!!! Lmao!!!!

I purchased hundreds of products a year from AliExpress in the US. That version of the app works excellently. Not perfect. But well enough that you can find stuff. And you can filter out all the dioshits trying to screw in shipping. The PH version of the AliExpress apo is a total mess. Not to mention I lost 22 shipments 4 months ago. When Phillipines customs stole a container of shipments. That took me hours of back and forth and 4 months to get refunds. J&T stole one of my boxes if very hard to find survival equipment I had brought with me. When I lived from San Fernando to Bohol.

You can't say I'm not committed to living here. I've fought like a dog to make this work. And I'm not giving up yet. Lol!

@bigpearl

As to checking a place out at all hours of different days of the week. I'm with you there. That is something I even did in the US. I also owned a PI firm in LA and would run backgrounds on all the neighbors. Lol.

I've realized after almost a year. I can fix most of the problems here. Like infrastructure - I can create an off-grid system. I planned on that anyway. I can shop boots on the ground. I don't need to rely entirely on the internet. I can absorb the various "white taxes" or extra fees at every gov connection I run into. (Don't get me started on the process of getting a spare tire ferried over from Cebu from the dealership! That took 12 signatures at the port and 7 fees that added up to $1.78 usd! Nothing more than a justification for 12 jobs at the port. And 4 hours of my time. The head of the local Coast Guard had to meet with me and sign off in my spare tire. It was beyond ridiculous and seriously 1984.)

But the one thing I've learned I can't fix. And I can't literally live without is quiet. I have not had one week of decent sleep in over 9 months. Dogs, chickens and music is unstoppable once you live near it. Or in a place in can move in within hearing distance.

It's the one common problem that covers 95% of the Phillipines. And there is no solution in sight. Or even concern that there should be a solution. No noise ordnances. And even where there are, like in a development. It's up to whatever low paid guard is on duty to enforce it. Fat chance. 

I've spent a great deal of time and effort figuring out what I can and can't live with or fix. And the only thing left is noise. I can live with or fix anything else.

I have to find a place with solitude. The noise is complete and completely common place. No one here sees it as an issue. It's deeply, culturally, engrained in the society. I don't blame them. It's how they choose to live. And are probably not nearly as affected by it as I am. Although I wonder about the children being kept up all night. That have to attend school everyday. Exhausted from the 200db base music being played all night long by the house in my neighborhood. That is a good distance away. But probably keeps a good 10 hector area awake for days.

But to be fair I am also very sensitive to it. I was in the US. I grew up and lived in very quiet places until I was maybe in my 20s. Or maybe I'm just a light sleeper. I don't really know. What I do know is I can't sleep with noise. And I can't live without sleep.

Dogs and chickens are ok if they aren't right next door. I sleep with earplugs. But base music? Forget it. Even with world class earplugs in and ANC - that base music taps a place deep in my cortex that refuses any sleep.

I'm prepared to build a smaller home. So that I can buy more land. To stay as far away from dogs, chickens and base music as I can. That's all I can do.

In the meantime I'm going to search and hope like hell I can find a remote rental until we buy and build.

@bigpearl

You are exactly right! I found this in Bohol. You look at the map. You convert mileage, distance and drive times. But until you take a 2 hour trip into the mountains you don't get it. It's slow and exhausting. The roads are actually trails that gir paved over. Winding around trees instead of cutting them down. Uneven surfaces. Some paved, some cement, some dirt, some not there at all. Road projects left abondsned with lanes closed only with a sign 50 ft from where they start. And one lane heading directly at incoming traffic. Its beautiful country. But taxing. Nit drives you're going to take daily. We're talking that once a month, maybe twice a month trip into the city for supplies.

I'm down with that though. I prefer the solitude. And that's probably what keep it solitude. Is it's just much if a pain in the ass for any one to drive that daily. Like a bedroom community in the US or something.

My original plan was deep rural Montana. With a once a month trip into the city for supplies. I can do that here. The advantage is the land, house and everything else is one fifth the cost. So I can live with it.

Once you really experience it and live it and weigh the pros and cons. You start seeing things clearly. And the things you have to "live with" become smaller. You learn to relax and live with it. It's the price you pay that makes the one fifth cost, beautiful people, amazing nature and incredible climate worth while.

But you have to be built for this. It's like an extended camping trip often. Even in a town or city. Power, water, sewer outages - you have to learn to work with that. Plumbing that's screwed. Outlets always falling apart. Distant, questionable healthcare. Extension cords and weird wiring. It's like spending the summer at your uncles off grid cabin. Lol.

Unless you want to live the condo life in a planned community. I can see that value too. It's just not me.

Golly Moab that was plenty to say and I see you need to find a happy and contented place to live, the reason why the better Half and I spent nearly 4 years searching, 2 to 3 times a year for 2 to 4 weeks each time. We would scope out possibilities from Australia to look at and most were more than disappointing, very frustrating and time wasting with all the lies and misrepresentations. Initially we were searching San Juan and over the years we watched the prices double and triple and could never find a decent sized property on the beach.

We had criteria for our retirement, after being a farm boy for 30 years wanted a sea change.

Had to be absolute beachfront.

A larger lot with an existing solid home that we could extend once we got the feel.

Quiet, no dogs or roosters, no traffic, no putrid drains, a good safe beach and not far from services and a quality private hospital (Lorma which I'm sure you know)

Not too far from the better half's 5,000 relatives (Banks Poro Point) 30 to 40 minutes drive depending on the traffic.

A big ask but we found our bit of paradise and was cheap even for here but a very long search.

This will be my final resting place and happy for the better half to jump on a Banka boat and scatter my ashes in the ocean.

We have been off grid now for 2 years or longer, run 4 to 6 A/C units, don't rely on diesel fired power stations, deep well water, self contained septic etc. etc. A PHEV set of wheels charged from the sun, better than sliced bread.

I hear what you want and it may take time to find but when you do? Could be your bit of nirvana.

As for your Shopee and Lazada issues? Have you tried setting up new accounts with them? Use your partners mobile number, register under their name or an alias and based on your location. I know a guy in  Duain that gets stuff from Luzon without any problems aside from delivery times. A new user name and email address, not difficult.

Living here now for 7 years and knocking around and working here since 2011 I have learnt to smile instead of winding myself or others up and simply go with the flow, not worth the angst.

You will find your bit of paradise but it can take time and patience, been there Moab and worth the journey in the end.

Good luck mate.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl

I know your area. My first 3 months were spent in San Fernando. I intended to spend a lot of time in San Juan. And planned to fish up near there too. But one thing led to another and I never got up there. I also didn't have a car then. Bought a new Suzuki Jimny when we got down here several months ago. Essential. I feel much more independent and grounded with a car. And a very capable 4x4 to boot. And so easy and simple to work on. People in the US would kill to be able to buy a car like this.

I appreciate your encouragement. I am fully prepared to search for years if necessary. Even if Cebu doesn't work out.

But I think the combination of jungle mountains around there. And the access to hospitals and goods is a good one. I can get fairly far within an hour travelling up and down the coastal road. The coastal roads are always so much easier. Straighter, better maintained, traffic does not seem to get as bunched up as mountainous roads. With slow moving vehicles going uphill.

Ocean front would be my number one choice as well. Ive always lived within short distance or right on the beach since my 20s. I feel a great sense of calm even driving down from our place now and hitting the bridge and ocean.

But with prices, and the size of lot I could afford (distance from animals and music) it seems unlikely. But we'll see. Undeveloped mountain property seems more likely. As long as it's accessible. And if I don't have to build any real roads. And it's safe from flooding and landslides. A geo study will be in the works.

I wish there were more rural rentals. We had hoped to find something remote to rent on Bohol. But managed to only find one semi secluded house. But it was to far north. My plan is to do more in person driving around and searching on Cebu Island. I think that's how the best rentals and properties are found. Will still use Facebook listings etc. But not going to sit back and rely only on those alone.

Right now I have several condo (relatively quiet we are hoping) rentals available in Cebu City for the time being. While searching for a quiet long term yearly lease rental. Then spend the coming years searching for permanent property to build on, or something built, or perhaps even a long term lease. But like you say, that is a multi month process if not years. Not in a hurry.

The online thing is not solved by opening new accounts. Because you still need a payment method and that always falls back and connects to your original account. I've done that too. I think the only possible solution would be somehow using another identity (friend, family member?) buying a burner phone in Cebu, and using your family members payment method. It would literally have to be a brand new, completely separate person's established identity. And new accounts with each online retailer. That never crosses paths with your own. Maybe even a different address. (Are maildrios even a thing here?). I may try this with the help of my sister or mother. We'll see.

Most of the big online retailers are owned by China. I forget the exact ownership. But I think Alibaba, AliExpress and Lazada are all owned by the same Chinese company. (TikTok store is owned by China too.) And they definitely have placed the Phillipines at the bottom of their list for improvements or support. They've made public statements to this fact.

I don't know if this has anything to do with US/China relationships. And the Phillipines being such a major US ally. But the PH is really the red headed stepchild of China retail.

This situation gets discussed on reddit alot. Everyone is screwed by online retail here. Compared to say online retail in the US.

It's literally a completely different animal. Set up with automatic algorithms that don't require a lot of human oversight or human overhead. It's set up to be more of an impulse buy/gambling/slot machine type endeavor. Than traditional online product search and buying tool.

A simple, cheap and easy method of taking as much profit with the least amount of expense. They'd rather sucker the 70%.  And walk away from the last 30% of value seeking customers. Because that last 30% requires a majority of the effort - vetting and monitoring sellers, they don't have to vet or monitor buyers as they only allow the bottom 70% who are judged completely secure. And anyone who even slightly is removed from that just gets blocked. Like someone with different geographical locations. Rather than spend the time confirming this is a real person who just happened to move. They just cut them out. And don't spend the time or money on anything that is even slightly difficult.

I would imagine as far reaching as AliExpress, and Alibabas trade goes worldwide. That the Phillipines is still a very small part of that. And the hassles they probably have to go thru dealing with a corrupt government, probably keep them from trying to get anymore involved than they have to be. At least that's my take. But they have been very open about how low the Phillipines is on their priority list.

It also didn't help when the Phillipines got rid of their shipping discounts last spring. Like the US does with USPS it is very cheap to have things shipped overseas. The Phillipines shipping oligarchs decided to stop offering that compensation of lower more reasonable shipping. Probably in concert with local oligarch retailers. Their profits go way up the harder it is to import. So last spring shipping rates on AliExpress shot up. And alit of retail switched from overseas to forced local shopping. I think this new adversarial tone might have given customs more leeway to steal as well. It's widely known they routinely take entire container loads of shipments. Like I said I lost 22 orders last fall. In one fell swoop. Different orders but I'm sure it was all probably in the same container that came up missing. All during the same week or two. And all of my orders from that time disappeared once they arrived at the local airport customs here on Panglou. Like it wasn't hidden. My tracking still shows a trail up to and including arriving at customs here at the airport. I even went down there myself to see if I could find them. Your not allowed to even speak to customs.

This isn't a democracy or a free, open market, capitalist society. It's a corruption system. Like all third world nations have always been. The sooner you understand this. The easier it is to understand why things are run the way they are here. There's no "fixing" that. It's not the US. This place will always be run with the wealthiest interests in mind. Because that is the power they have. And they would be foolish not to exercise it. Why give all the profits to the Chinese? When you can literally force everyone (or at least a larger percentage) to buy from their local stores or local online retailers? It's the same reason the local auto industry is protected by making it twice the cost of a new car to import any vehicle. "IF" you can even get thru the red tape.

Anyway. Stepping off my soapbox.

I really appreciate your wise words. A road map I am sure to follow. 👍 I love it here. But I think that's only possible if you have the wisdom to clearly see it, how it works, and still be able to add up the real pros and cons and understand the value in the end.

There is great value to living here. You just have to rejoice in what you get. And let go of any US expectations you bring with you. You literally have to let go of everything you've known. Start from scratch. See how it works and doesn't work. And accept that. If you can't - your doomed. This will never work out. Unless you enjoy frustrating yourself. Lol.

Moab.

All our orders from Shopee and Lazada are COD, never gave them credit or debit card info and has worked perfectly for 7 years. The odd glitch with a couple of sellers but Shopee sorts them out once you lodge a complaint.

A long winded story for you to digest Moab.

Our years of looking in and around San Juan led to countless frustrations and wasted time, about a year in I found the place we eventually purchased but 10/12 odd minutes further north of where we wanted to be and though it seemed to offer what we were looking for the price was P 13M and I considered it too much for its location. As the years rolled on I kept my eye on this property but never looked at it, over those years the price slowly dropped to P 9M so Ben and I arranged with the agent for a look see.

A Canadian owner that had the house built for him and his wife and 2 kids. A solid rendered block home 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, seperate laundry under the same roof and good size kitchen and living area. 1,700 M2 clear titled lot and a tax declared 800 M2 lot to the beach. Thing is as it turns out the place was a mess and neglected big time, rubbish and crap all over the lot as well as dog sh1t in the house and rats running across the kitchen counters........... Thing is that it was a well constructed home and the bones were there, he let it go after he and his Filipina wife split up and lived like a bum there.

Hard ass me offered P 5M as I could see he needed out, he came back with P 6.5M and we settled on P 5.75M and let him stay for 2 years rent free giving us plenty of time to wrap up our lives in Oz and for him time to build another home on land they owned in Bororo, 10 minutes away. The place accumulated even more trash over those 2 years and was a nightmare cleaning it up and getting rid of it but long term I knew this was the place.

It's now 5 bed/5 bath bigger living areas and large verandahs as well as an attached over sized double garage, fully fenced with rendered block walls on 3 sides and glass to the beach. Stand alone solar and the list can go on. You can find a good deal if you are patient as long as it's where you want to be.

As for great value living here? Maybe 15/20 years ago but not so much these days and there are plenty of cheaper countries to live.

We own everything, no power bills, yes a live in caretaker (God bless him) and we still manage to get rid of P 120K per month, go figure.

Your Shopee and Lazada simply set up a new account, new phone number, email address, an alias , only COD transactions which most do etc.

I have to ask? Why leave La Union? Sure I could never live in San Fernando City but there are so many other great locations that are quiet and yes a set of wheels definitely helps and while we were looking for years found a great Manila based company that would deliver an ordered car to our hotel and pick it up the evening before we went back to Oz, Highly recommend them. Generally a month but when we moved here was 4 months with settling in and refrigerator, washing machine etc. until our container arrived from Oz 2 weeks later. Eventually we purchased a new car and handed the hire car back.

Yeah there are frustrations and foibles here no different to all countries, learn to smile mate and I do hope you find what you are looking for, I'm sure you will just be patient.

Let go your US expectations as I have with my Oz life, different country and ways.

Cheers, Steve.

@Moab762

Right off the bat.  based on your requirements,  stay away from Cebu City and the environs. Too noisy, too much traffic. too dirty.  My Ex's hometown was about an 1 1/2  hours south of the city.  It wasn't much different.  I'm guessing you want to stay close to the airport? Not really many options there. My preferences in Cebu is the far south or the far north.

Maybe not what you looking for.  Some suggestions...Argao, Moalboal, Santander, Daanbatayan, to name a few. Good luck. But personally I would stay away from Cebu altogether in your case.

One last thought,  if you go to the south tip of the island, you will be not too far from the airport across the straight in Negros. Dumagette