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Sounds good. Thanks for sharing this information with us. Are you like me scouting for possible retirement destinations ? If yes, please share with us your findings from your on the ground research - as our gayguides.com forum has hardly any details about successfully retiring in the Philippines. Enjoy your trip to Baguio.

Sure Yes - I indicated tourism and to look at possible retirement locations. None of the immigration officials asked me anything. The local expats here told me that they will only ask you questions after you have been here for a long time on a tourist visa = like in excess of 6 months or 1 year. Theoretically, you can keep extending your tourist visa for up to 3 years. I told the truth = 62 days. I was given a warning at the airport on day 1 when I got my first 30 day stamp at the airport on arrival when the immigration officer asked me why I had not requested a visa in advance since my known stay would be 62 days and the first tourist visa on arrival stamped into your passport is only for 30 days? I apologized and I told her that I was ignorant about this requirement. So, she told me, "I can only give you 30 days in your passport and you will need to go to immigration prior to the expiration of the first 30 days to extend your tourist visa." --> which is what I did as reported in my Day 27 (24 January 2025) trip report update. --> Note that your first tourist visa extension is only for 29 additional days. Consequently, in my specific case, I will need to go back to immigration next week to extend my tourist visa for an additional 3 days, to satisfy the full 62 days that I will be here as a tourist. yes - it is the validity through date (expiration) printed in your passport @garygx, Enjoy your stay in the Philippines. If I may, can I ask where will you visit ?

Yes. You need to leave Jomtien to appreciate what it has to offer: Supertown with its 35 gay bars, 2 cabaret showbars, 12 restaurants, 10 massage shops, and 10 hotels. Here in Cebu - there is no central gay ghetto area with a concentration of gay bars. The closest 3 bars here in Cebu - within walking distance are 1.) the Cave Bar, 2.) ICON mixed disco, 3.) Censored bar. Dongtan beach - and the ability to walk freely on the beach - unfortunately here all of the beaches here in Cebu are for payment and so you are not able to walk from one beach to another like you can in Jomtien. all within an 8 to 10 minute walking distance from my condo Only if the current Thai government follows through with its threat to implement a Global Taxation Regime - then I will leave Thailand - and I could see myself living here - as life here in the Jomtien of Cebu = Mactan Newtown - I truly enjoy. The MegaWorld company that created this new well planned community is truly enjoyable and is near the beach and they have hirise condos like in Jomtien with stunning sea views. Many things are cheaper here because the cost of labor is cheaper here. The average daily salary for a Cebu person is 501 pesos, which is equivalent to 289.72 Thai baht. The average daily salary for a Jomtien person is around 400 Thai baht, which is equivalent to 691.76 pesos. Consequently, there is a 38% premium in wage cost - in that Thais in the Pattaya area earn 38% more on average over their peers from Cebu city. Note: this 38% wage differential does not equate into that things cost 38% less than in Jomtien - I would guess that things are between 15% to 20% cheaper on average. Here in Cebu I pay on average between 2,500 to 3,000 pesos for a massage with light extras - which equates to around 1,700 Thai baht, which is around 15% cheaper than what I pay for the same massage back in Jomtien. However, even though renting a condo can be cheaper here in Cebu - it will be a much smaller space. So, Jomtien gives more value for your money when measured in sqm. Out of the 3 places that I will compare each other to - I am pre-anticipating that Da Nang, Vietnam will come in at the cheapest - as I noted this when I stayed there for 2 weeks during Songkran 2024.

Many thanks for your kind words Peter. I wish that I had the writing style and talent that you have. Your choice of word usage always mesmerizes me as a great piece of music does. I write the best that I can with my limited repertoire of the English language - I am from the USA, with a middle class educational upbringing. Later in life, I was fortunate to land an international job that sent me to many places in the world and thanks to this job, exposed me to South East Asia (SEA) - hence my retirement as an expat in Thailand. I often worry that my posts - especially this new Philippine one is a bore as they are daily updates - but I am trying to capture what the daily life / grind is here for potential retirees who might want to retire in the Philippines. I know that the primary focus of this site, gayguides.com, is to share our hunt for our sexcapades and share some of those details - which I truly enjoy and I do participate in those when I am having one of those adventures. But, I also believe that it is good for our forum to also delve in life choices and how they are or are not made. Variety is the spice of life.

Day 49 (15 February 2025) Today was not a good day, as 2 bad events occurred. First, I have an argument with my Thai boyfriend “former” money boy – about ? Can anyone guess? What is the most favorite topic of “former” money boys ?? Yes, you guessed it correctly --> the Thai Baht We close our argument with my words to him “leave me alone for some days, as I need to cool off….” I know, I know, I know - many of you have warned me publicly and privately to NOT invest in any type of relationship with a "money boy", but after the success stories of our forum members = @Min and @jason1975, I thought that I would try my luck...... As this occurred right after our wonderful Valentine’s Day – it was very disheartening. Secondly, I contact Jeff in the Heesay app – (see Day 45 - 11 February 2025 in this trip report for related information) for a repeat session. We agree to meet at 8pm. I go downstairs outside of the OPR condo complex to wait for him on the street. Eventually, a guy appears and says to me, “massage”. I look at him perplexed, and I reply, “sorry I am waiting for Jeff”. This mysterious guy replies, “I am sorry but Jeff is sick and I was sent to you instead”. I reply, “I am sorry, this is not going to work for me – please go away”. The guy replies, “but but,…..I can massage…”. I reply, “no thanks – this is not correct – I do not want you”. He gets a frown on his face and walks away. Now I am really pissed off. Then in the Heesay app (formerly BLUED), I get another message from a profile that I have never chatted with claiming that this new chat is Jeff. I tell him to prove it to me and he sends me his picture and in fact it is sexy Jeff from the 11th of February. I say to him – what was that all about. He replies, “they took my phone and they were communicating with you”. I reply that this is not correct and that I am annoyed with this type of shenanigan, and he apologizes many times to me. He tells me that he can only meet me tomorrow, 16 February – but I tell him that I am busy on 16 and 17 February (as Mr. B. is coming to stay with me for 2 nights so that we can go to Olango island). Later on in the night, reflecting on what transpired, I can only think that perhaps Jeff is working for a “strici” (the Hungarian word for a pimp boss). When I lived in Budapest, this was a common practice, that the guys that you would find in Planet Romeo / Hunqz, were sometimes being managed by a “strici”. So, you would chat on Romeo / Hunqz thinking that you were actually chatting with the hot sexy macho guy that you see in the profile, but instead you are chatting with his “strici” pimp boss. This was common in Budapest for 2 primary reasons: The hot sexy gypsy guys could not write in English and could only speak a little in English and they needed someone to help them get clients via the apps – hence the use of a “strici”. These hot guys were hard up and in debt with their loan shark = “strici”, who then controlled them to work for them by pimping them out on Romeo / Hunqz so that they could pay off their loans to the loan shark. How do I know this? I got foolishly romantically involved with some of these guys in BOTH of the above 1 and 2 categories and I heard all about what goes on behind the scenes. So, I speculate that my Filipino Jeff is perhaps being controlled by the Philippine version of a “strici” pimp boss manager. I will eventually find out, as I want to meetup with this sexy Jeff guy again before I leave Mactan Newtown to go back to Cebu city. In the idle time today - I made some progress in my backlog of trip report updates. That is all for today – not much of an interesting day and NO extracurricular activities for today – even though I did try. Day 49 (15 February 2025) concluded.

Thank God that you exist - I definitely f*%ked up that post. Yes, those are indeed yummy gyoza and NOT spring rolls. I should send my preposts to you for proofreading and editing 😍🤩 before I attempt to make any posts here.

Yes, I already reported on some of my Grab car trips in this trip thread on 31 January (45 minutes) and again on 1 February (1 hour). The reason for my Day 46 (12 February 2025) update was to simulate a "like for like" comparison of using the public transportation system in Cebu versus its comparator back in Jomtien. To go to the Ayala Mall in CBP from Mactan Newtown there is only the public bus option that takes between 114 to 117 minutes and requires 2 buses - as there is no direct route. This option costs 51 pesos + 15 pesos = 66 pesos = $1.14 USD or 38.55 Thai baht. Meanwhile, the public transportation option from Jomtien to Pattaya city takes between 15 to 20 minutes and costs 10 Thai baht or 17.12 pesos (can cost 20 Thai baht if you are venturing deeper into Pattaya city). So this is very good value for time and money. To reduce the travel time by using the Grab car here in Cebu instead of the public bus, it equates to: a travel time between 45 minutes to 1 hour for a cost of 709.67 pesos = 414.52 Thai baht This afternoon, 16-Feb-2025, Mr. B. joined me here in Mactan Newtown and he took a motorbike taxi from his hotel where he works, which is just north of the CBP Ayala mall, and the total elapsed time was only 25 minutes. So, this could also be another option. I rarely use motorbike taxis back in Pattaya - as I often find the adventure to be too unsafe. I have used motorbike taxis here in Cebu 2 times and I felt safer - as the intense traffic tends to limit the speeds that the Cebu motorbike drivers can go at - whereas in Pattaya - there just doesn't see to be a speed limit - and as such the motorbike ride in Pattaya can be more harrowing.

Day 48 (14 February 2025) – Valentine’s Day I spend all morning on the booking sites and I decide to return to the Cityscape Grand Tower (the first place I stayed where I had my condo room when I arrived in Cebu back on 29 December 2024). It was the only condo building that met my criteria with sea facing balconies. So, now I am booked through 3 March, when I will then return to Thailand. I am relieved that this boring task is completed as it is very time consuming and frustrating. I go to eat lunch at the Mactan Newtown Alfresco open air food court and while I am waiting for my food to be prepared my Thai boyfriend sends me a wonderful photo of him holding the Valentine Day roses that I sent him in his condo room. I can see from the photo that the florist delivery team managed to get them to him while he was still sleeping – as he has that early morning groggy look – but he is truly happy and so am I that I could make him this nice surprise. Afterwards, I try a new adventure – which challenges my nerves. I decide to walk by myself to the nearby Angasil Port – which I can see from my balcony. To get there, I need to exit the Mactan Newtown township and walk a long street towards the sea from the main road that is external to the perimeter wall of the township. I do not know the name of this type of housing, perhaps “shanty houses” ?? Excuse my ignorance. So, I start my walk, which takes about 25 minutes, and my heart is racing, but I try to keep a pleasant smile about me as I pass the many people sitting out alongside the roadside outside their poor metal roofed wood walled homes. Many ignore me and many smile at me. I am obviously the ONLY AFAM (farang) in this neighborhood, which is VERY poor. I even had to walk amongst the roaming around roosters. The diversity from wealth to poverty is truly in your face – as I look back towards my left at the Mactan Newtown luxurious condo room that I am renting versus these shanty homes that I am surrounded by: – it all just seems so unfair and unjust. I eventually arrive at the port and I see both the ticket office and one of the ferry’s loading up with passengers for the journey over to Olango island. https://www.facebook.com/www.sta.rosaferry.com.ph/ I ask the ferry ticket booth person how much does it cost and she replies 40 pesos ( ~ $0.69 USD) per one way. Also, the ferries depart every 30 minutes and the trip across the Hilutangan channel takes 20 minutes. For the trip back to the Mactan Newtown township I take a motorbike taxi for 50 pesos ( ~ $0.87 USD) and the ride takes just 6 minutes. I send all of this information to Mr. B. to solidify our plan to go to visit Olango island on Monday 17 February. While walking back towards my room I see this Valentine Day stand and I ask the security guy if he can take my picture in front of it. After he takes my picture, he asks me to turnaround and to notice the security guard lady behind the glass who has her 2 hands displayed as the heart symbol = I blush and he tells me that she would like to be my valentine, and I blush even more. I tell him that I asked him to take my photo in front of the love sign as I want to send it to my valentine back in Thailand. He tells his female security guard colleague and she then makes a sad face and I do the Thai wai to her (I did not know what else to do as the situation was warm but slightly embarrassing) and I walk away. Later when I was home, while looking at the above photo I notice her watching me through the glass – as if I was photo bombed. I decide to already buy my dinner as take away and to keep it in my room – as I already see that the Mactan Newtown township is already filling up with lovebirds and the 2 hotels next to my condo are already celebrating valentine festivities out on the street. So, I seek cover closed up in my condo room. Later in the evening I chat with my Thai boyfriend and he shares with me via a LINE video that he is furiously cooking up a storm in his friends kitchen a scrumptious seafood dinner for him and his 5 Thai friends. Before I doze off to sleep he sends me a video of them dancing the night away over at the SinLapin Isaan club in Third road in Pattaya city: https://www.facebook.com/SinlapinEsarn/?_rdr No massages or extra-curricular activities today = sorry - I know that some of you are looking for me to report on sexcapade activities - but it is a dry spell at the moment - but I am ok about it. Day 48 (14 February 2025) Valentine’s Day concluded.

Day 47 (13 February 2025) I forgot to mention in yesterday’s trip report update, that after dinner I picked up my Wash n Dry laundry, and I can report that I was VERY satisfied with their work. My laundry was all folded and handed to me in a plastic sealed wrap. Eat breakfast and make some updates to this trip report. I sort out my returned laundry from yesterday by putting them in their places in the wardrobe. They all smelled nice and clean with a good fragrance. Also, I extended my stay by 3 days in my current AirBnB condo – as I truly LOVE it here, consequently, I have decided that on Friday 21 February, I will return back to Cebu city and finish my sojourn here in the Philippines in Cebu city. So, I start the arduous chore to find a condo to rent with a sea facing balcony on all of the apps; Agoda, AirBnB, Booking.com, HomeToGo, and VRBO. I am also chatting with Mr. B., who gives me some ideas of condos with balconies in the city center. I am also trying to convince Mr. B. to come out to Mactan Newtown to come and visit me on his next days off so I can show him around. After many hours of searching with no good unique finds, I give up and I go to lunch. Earlier in the morning, I got into a tense chat on Twitter (X) with a former tour guide that I found on YouTube, that I was going to hire to go on some short trips here on the Cebu island outside of the environs of the city. Unfortunately, he has abandoned his tour guide business, as it was not meeting his income objectives and has since taken a full time job. He wanted to take me on tours but only on Saturday and returning on Sunday. Unfortunately, many of these places are far away and it just did not make sense to only have 1 night in a resort and to not be able to properly enjoy (due to a lack of time) the facilities and local nature. I try to explain this to him in the chat and he just decides to terminate my ability to communicate with him in Twitter. I told him my concerns in a very gentle and friendly way, but he seem to not have liked my reluctance to undertake a big trip for such little value in what we could possibly do in such little time. This made me very sad, as I have been communicating with him for more than 1 month now – and I really liked his YouTube channel and the trips that he undertook when he did have his travel business full time. Simultaneously, I am also searching for a florist in Jomtien that can deliver some roses to my Thai boyfriend tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day. I am conversing in LINE with 2 florists and the florist that I prefer, because they have a bouquet of roses with a small teddy bear, is very slow to reply to my requests. So, I go with the other shop, and I go with a standard bouquet of beautiful roses. I convince the owner that the recipient is unpredictable to locate, so I list all of the places that he could be; his condo room, over at Dongtan beach or over on Jomtien soi 4. She tells me that if they cannot locate him in his condo room that they will call him so that the delivery person and him can meet in a mutually agreed location to complete the delivery. I am elated and she confides in me that many Thai people are like this, “free spirits” and unpredictable and to relax, as they will be able to hunt him down as they know Thai people very well. Hallelujah!! Go to lunch at the Mactan Alfresco to eat a yummy bowl of ramen with some spring rolls that I order from the shop. https://www.facebook.com/RamenSage After lunch I go for a long walk and then back to my room to relax. Later on in the evening I return to my usual place to eat, An’dale and then return home to make some more trip report updates as I am several days behind again. No massages or extra-curricular activities today = sorry --> boring - life as a happy expat retiree. Day 47 (13 February 2025) concluded.

How many kleenex boxes did you consume? For me many - as this was such a heartwarming movie. 'How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies' = "Lahn Mah" หลานม่า

wow yes - I had not yet made that association. Bravo!! The primary problem with the Philippines is the bad infrastructure, such as lack of good roads to handle all of the traffic. Alternative transportation is available, such as jeepneys (bahtbus), buses, motorbikes, taxis, and tricycles - but they all need to travel on the same clogged up roads. Walking is another strategy, but often you need to walk amongst the traffic due to a lack of sidewalks - which can be dangerous when the impatient motorbikes aggressively ride in that tiny space between the cars and the edge of the road and/or wall. The 3 bubble (Jim Carrey Truman Show) communities that I wrote about extensively in this trip report all have excellent sidewalks, and transportation within these planned communities is efficient and comfortable - but these 3 bubble "fake" communities only represent like 1% to 2% of the land mass of the greater CEBU area - so, if you want to live here - you are forced to step out of these bubble communities and deal with the true reality of the chaos, traffic, pollution, noise, etc.

Exactly!! For us retirees who live here in the Pattaya area - we would have little to no clue about what is going on around us if it were not for these publications - and I would add YouTube bloggers like TNT (Time Newton Today), Buzzin Pattaya with Trev, etcetra. Often my Thai friends who live in Pattaya don't have a clue what is going on and I often relay information to them from the above mentioned sites. But, on the other hand, they are obsessed with their Thai focused social media and they often tell me about things that do not hit any of the above mentioned sources - as they don't have a "farang" focus and consequently are not picked up. So, I would say it is good to read / watch all of the above sources and to have a group of Thai friends to fill in the missing pieces. I believe that this lack of real journalism is heavily influenced by the excessive defamation laws that exist in Thailand. Consequently, I believe that the Thai journalists prefer to piggy-back off of a statement written by either the authorities (i.e. police report) or companies who have deep pockets to play it safe. Therefore, these defamation laws help facilitate the Thai desired positive illusion (Land of Smiles and everything is always positive and good). I found this out the hard way after the PFC (Pattaya Flying Club) "suicide" that took place in my building when I tried to make my own investigations after the media dropped the follow up story on this case. There were too many suspicious findings; Italian being naked, blood found in his room, his family not wanting to get involved with the claims made by the owner of the car that was damaged when his body fell on it, and so many more weird facts. Within a couple of days, everything was swept under the carpet and we were encouraged to stop talking about it, as the reputation of the condo building and greater Thailand must be protected. So, as I want to live here in harmony - I just need to look the other way - even though it pains me so much....But I chose this place as my retirement destination and so I need to live with this reality.

See previous day's post = Day 45 (11 February 2025) --> extracurricular activities occured 😛🤪😜🍆💦

Day 46 (12 February 2025) Wake up and have breakfast. I decide that today is a good day to simulate an elderly retiree using the public transportation to get from Mactan Newtown to the Ayala mall in Cebu Business Park (CBP). I walk to the beginning of the Mactan Newtown township where there is the bus transportation center. A Ceres bus for IT Park is starting to leave and I run towards it and they let me on. It is 10:30am. I sit down and the Ceres bus conductor comes to me and issues me a ticket and I pay 51 pesos ( ~ $0.88 USD) for the 1 way trip to IT Park. The bus is kind of empty and very nice inside and has good air-conditioning. The bus makes many stops along the way and perhaps after 30 minutes of traveling it is now full. We arrive at the IT Park bus terminus and it is 11:47am, so the total elapsed time was 1 hour and 17 minutes (77 minutes). Now I need to figure out how to get to the Ayala mall in CBP. --> Note: from what I can tell, there are 3 bus companies sharing this route: Ceres / Sugbo / CIBUS I could not find out the operating hours of this bus - but there was a Reddit post that states that this bus runs 24/7 every 30 minutes - with the caveat - if the bus fills up prior to the 30 minutes it will already depart. source Reddit here (the article is in Tagalog - so you need to translate it): The bus conductor remembers that I asked her about the Ayala mall bus and points it out to me – it was parked perpendicular to our bus. This CIBUS bus is parked next to this sign: with its final destination being the SM Seaside mall. There is also the mybus, doing the same route. I run over to it (as I did not know if it was leaving immediately) and it is now 11:50am – but the bus did not depart until 12:18pm. The conductor issues me a ticket, and I pay 15 pesos ( ~ $0.26 USD). We arrive at the Ayala mall at 12:24pm, in front of the Maybank, on Luzon Avenue, which is opposite of the Alcoves entrance to the Ayala mall. So, the total 1 way elapsed time was 1 hour and 54 minutes (114 minutes). Time for lunch and I head up to the 4th floor Garden Level to eat at the ever so yummy . The waitress remembers me from like 10 days prior and before I could say anything, she says to me: would you like the Eggs Benedict Salmon with an Okinawa iced coffee? I was so impressed. I said can I also have a side of……she finished my sentence with, sausage. I told her that I am very amazed at her memory skills. Lunch is served and I am very happy: https://www.facebook.com/p/Abaca-Baking-Company-4th-Floor-Ayala-Center-Cebu-100090856277197/ And no, that is not a bottle of opened white wine, but instead is a bottle of “free” service water – which I did not drink – after my experience a couple of weeks ago, with a major incident of diarrhea, that was caused by "service water" = tap water --> No way. I only drank my bottled water. I go down to the second floor to the Bench Fix Salon, https://shop.fixsalon.com/ where I had my previous hair color treatment. Unfortunately, the lady who did it before was not there. So, I accept the assigned beauty assistant. I show her the color that was previously done and I could tell from her face that she did not agree. Well, she does my hair and of course it is not as dark as I like. The mistake that I made was that I did not show her the official color box that my hair treatment guy gave me back in Thailand, which has the number A42 assigned to it – as there are millions of colors and gradients of color. Instead, I only showed the beauty assistant what my haircut looked like that was done by her colleague 3 weeks prior. Oh well, lesson learned. My hair looks good – but it is not intense and dark enough. I head over to my favorite coffee shop, Treat Street Café, which is just outside of the Rustan’s department store on floor 2. I order my usual delicious avocado pie and Spanish latte. https://treatstreetcafe.com/ Back on Boracay, I broke my favorite neon green and black sneakers, and I look for a replacement in the shoes store. Prior to going to Boracay, I had seen a pair of sneakers that I liked that were black with a couple of subtle neon green stripes. I must have walked the entire Ayala mall 2 times and then finally I saw the store down on the ground level while I was walking up on the 2nd level. https://dcshoes.com.ph/ The 2 male clerks were very happy to help me and when they found out that I am from the USA, they were like, how could you not already have a pair of DC shoes. So, I had to explain to them that I left the USA in 1999 from Colorado, and I did not believe that DC shoes were popular or known in Colorado. Anyway, I was happy to buy my first pair of USA sneakers in the Philippines – another proof of globalization. Now I go outside of the Ayala mall to wait for the bus back to IT Park at the bus stop opposite of the Maybank. I see a lot of people standing around waiting for various jeepneys (a type of bahtbus) and buses. But none are going to IT Park. As I am the only non-Filipino, many motorbike taxi guys and regular taxi guys keep trying to solicit me and I keep resisting by politely refusing their offers. After 30 minutes of no luck, I start looking in Google and there are 2 conflicting suggested areas for the bus to IT Park. One is where I was standing and the other was over at the Metro store. So, I walk over to the Metro store and start waiting there but no buses appear for IT Park. After now waiting 30 minutes, I decide to walk to IT Park, as it looked nearby on Google maps. Google states that it is a 30 minute walk and is 2km. So, I start walking on the very busy Archbishop Reyes Ave, as it is now rush hour and the problem with walking outside of CBP or IT Park is the lack of or intermittent sidewalks, where you are forced to walk out into the traffic. I do this and it is an ok experience – no worse than some of the walks that I have done in Pattaya city in that chaos. I started walking at 16:55pm and I arrived at 17:22pm at the IT Park Transport Terminal, with an elapsed time of 27 minutes and a cost of ZERO pesos. Luckily, at 17:30pm there was a CIBUS bus departing for Mactan Newtown and it was easy to locate: As it is now rush hour, the bus is super packed with people standing. I was lucky, as I got a seat for the long journey. The return bus is comfortable and very well air-conditioned. The cost was the same = 51 pesos. We arrive at the Mactan Newtown bus terminal at 18:52pm for a total elapsed time of 1 hour and 22 minutes (82 minutes). I also need to factor in the TOTAL transit time of 27 minutes of walking plus 8 minutes of waiting time plus 82 minutes on the bus = 117 minutes. Exiting the bus terminal to re-enter into the Mactan Newtown township I had an elated feeling – similar to the feeling I get when I need to venture into the center of busy Pattaya city for several hours and when I jump off of the bahtbus in Jomtien, I am always happy – as there is that sense of escaping from the urban jungle and intense chaotic traffic, noise, and related pollution. Additionally, out in Jomtien and also out in Mactan Newtown, the air is just so much fresher at the sea. Again, living here as a retiree in Mactan Newtown might get old – in the sense that: The transit time between Mactan Newtown to Cebu city is near to 2 hours versus the 15 to 20 minutes from Jomtien to Pattaya city, The Mactan Newtown township is still not yet completed and it is still missing some essential services. They have yet to finish the 4 additional condo buildings, new shopping mall over at the sea, the convention center, and the big new museum. So, perhaps in another 3 years, Mactan Newtown would be great for a retiree to live in with all of the required amenities – thus negating the need to go into Cebu city on a frequent basis. But, I must say --> the sea views are awesome from here in Mactan Newtown versus Cebu city – and we need to remember that the condos in Cebu city often don’t feature balconies – and if they do, they are not always sea facing (instead they would be mountain facing -or- worse yet, internal facing onto another condo unit or blank wall). Back to my condo to relax and then call it a night. No massages or extra-curricular activities today. Day 46 (12 February 2025) concluded.

Was it on Soi Welcome in Jomtien? Maybe that is how the fire started - from the trash bin? Just joking as I could not resist. I have had a few tries of the stuff during my 63 years of existance - similar to your cannabis experiences.

Day 45 (11 February 2025) with extracurricular activities - finally 😋 Upon waking up in the morning I immediately open the curtains and step out onto the balcony to see if my desired objective to have an unobstructed view onto the Hilutangan Channel and Olango island is realized. View from my balcony when looking left. Not only did I get a view onto Olango island, but I also got a view onto Bohol island off into the distance. Note that in the Hilutangan Channel there are no wrecked and/or dilapidated ships to ruin the view. So, I am really a happy camper now. It took me 3 different distinct stays here in Mactan Newtown to understand in which direction is the best sea view. The way that this new township was constructed, most of the units are facing the Magellan Sea – which in my opinion is not the most majestic view of the sea. Looking straight forward from my balcony I have a view of the southern part of Mactan island. View from my balcony when looking directly forward. Then when looking right from my balcony I have an excellent view of the Mactan–Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and then behind the airport is the Cebu city skyline, with the mountains behind Cebu city. Note the Cebu Pacific aircraft with the yellow tail fin sitting in front of the airport terminal. View from my balcony when looking towards the right All in all, this condo out of the 5 condos that I have rented from AirBnB here in Cebu is my most favorite. This new condo does not have a washing machine, so this gives me a chance to try out the Mactan Newtown Wash n Dry franchise here in the township. After the trip to Boracay, I accumulated a lot of dirty laundry. This franchise shop is directly adjacent to where I stored my luggage prior to departing for Boracay. https://www.facebook.com/p/Wash-N-Dry-Mactan-Newtown-100063930938292/ Pricing is reasonable for my 3.6 kilos of dirty laundry. But, where they get you to pay more is as follows. The above favorable price schedule requires that you wait for 4 days. For an escalated pricing scheme of 89% more, they can give you your laundry next day at the close of business. I chose that option = Rush Laundry, as I did not want to wait 4 days. My total cost was 3.6 kilos * 66/kilo = 237.6 pesos ( ~ $4.12 USD) – which in my opinion at this elevated price is amazingly good value for money and time. Next stop was back to the Mactan Newtown Alfresco open air food court for lunch. Life is good – yes – pork again with pasta and spring rolls. Speaking of pork, the township is busy preparing for the Cebu Lechon Festival – one was being roasted while I was eating my lunch. After lunch I return to the X10 luggage shop to retrieve my 2 bags of stored items – 1 big luggage from Thailand and a Metro shopping bag full of the towels to protect the bed mattress during massages and sheets to block the light. In this new condo, not necessary, as it has excellent sun blocking curtains. https://luggagestoragecebu.com/ When I arrive back to the OPR condo building the security team looks confused – as if I am checking in again (I had already checked in the night prior with my small luggage from Boracay). We laughed and I told them that this was the rest of my crap from my 62 trip in the Philippines. I get back to my condo room and I empty out my additional luggage and I start to feel very horny as it is now more than 1 week since I have had an orgasm. Oh no, what is wrong with me. I enter into Heesay and I find this cute masculine sexy young 23 year old Filipino guy who will come to my condo and give me a nice massage with the ES (extra services) that I requested. We agree that he will come at 18:30pm and I will meet him out on the street in front of the OPR condo complex. In the meantime, I prepare the bed with the towels that I previously retrieved from the X10 luggage storage shop and I alert my Thai boyfriend back in Jomtien that I will have a massage. All is good. I stand outside on the street and every macho guy that passes I keep thinking is it him? Then I see a guy mysteriously look at me and then keep walking – but he was hiding behind the next pillar of the covered walkway. He messages me on the Heesay app that he is here and wants to know where I am. So, I walk over to him, thinking that it must be him and I say my name to him and he smiles and says his name, Jeff. I really like what I see and I am super excited. We go to the OPR security desk and the security guard asks me in which condo do I belong to and I totally forgot my new condo number. I fumble for my condo keys and thank God it was written on the keychain and I show it to the security guard. I try to lighten up the tense moment saying that I just returned to OPR after being away on Boracay and the security guard smiles and registers Jeff in the ID book and off we go up to my room. I ask Jeff if he wants anything to drink and he says no. I ask if he needs a shower and he states that he already had a shower before coming here. I then take him out to the balcony so that he can see the amazing view and he points out to me where he is lodging in Mactan. I find out that he is meandering around the Philippines as a “4Hire” guy, paying his way as he goes. He is originally from Bohol which he says is beautiful but boring as hell and that is why he left. He arrived by boat to Cebu the night before. Then he goes back into the living room and takes off all of his clothes except his boxers and I get naked and I lay down on the bed and he starts to massage my back and shoulders. He is really good at it for only being 23 years old. He takes his time to do my entire back side from my neck down to my feet but after a while (I am super horny from too many days of abstinence) I turn over and I am already rock hard. He massages all around my third leg and finally he gives it a tug and then I remove his boxers and he is completely naked with a perfect tanned tone swimmers body and a nice cut Filipino cock. He gets me close to orgasm already – I told him to do it slowly and he did but I was just too horny. So, I ask him to stop and then I tell him to lay down and I lick his nipples, caress his groin and balls and slowly massage his dick with that Japanese oil that I bought when I was back in IT Park from that gay couple. I also give him a great blowjob. He really likes it and is moaning more and more and so I slow down my cock massage rhythm, as I love to see the guys desire their orgasm more and more. Eventually, he cannot resist the sensual strokes to his cock head that he shoots out a big load all over his chest. WOW!! I clean him up with the Kleenex and then he does the same to me – but I don’t last long as he is just too masculine and sexy and I am too horny that I explode. We clean up taking showers and I dress so that I can bring him down to the security desk as it is very easy to get lost in the OPR complex that has 4 towers – with only 1 main entrance/exit point. We walk together towards the main entrance of the Mactan Newtown township entrance, but I depart from him when I get near my favorite food stall and we say our goodbyes. I eat at my favorite food cart place, An’Dale, totally satisfied – in all senses. Life is good. https://www.facebook.com/andaleeats?mibextid=LQQJ4d I head back to my room after I finish my meal and I clean up the bedroom and then I have a LINE chat with my Thai boyfriend back in Jomtien. Now very sleepy and happy – so off to bed. Day 45 (11 February 2025) concluded.

Wow - hallelujah!!! If this really does come true. I think the key phrase written in that Pattaya Mail article is this one: hmm, what could that be? Perhaps the USA pulling out of the OECD because of their emphasis on the idea of implementing a Global Minimum Taxation scheme which the new administration has deemed as being "extraterritorial" and discriminatory towards American citizens and American businesses. Related legal article can be seen here at: https://tax.weil.com/latest-thinking/now-you-see-me-now-you-dont-oecd-me-president-trump-signals-significant-changes-in-global-tax-policy/ This was already forecasted by Mr. Benjamin Hart from Integrity Legal when he gave his recent Thailand tax presentation to the PCEC (Pattaya City Expat Club) earlier this week on Wednesday 12 February 2025. This important PCEC meeting was recorded and can be watched on their YouTube channel at:

Here in Cebu I primarily use the BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) ATMs. I note that I saw some of these BPI ATMs here in Boracay - but I did not use any. The reason why I prefer BPI over the other Philippine banks is that I had the best success when using their ATMs over the other banks (mainly MetroBank). I heard that BDO Bank is also ok for international bank cards. I have used my USA bank card, and my European bank card, and my HongKong bank card and they all worked in the BPI machine - so I would consider that as passing the international bank test. Note that there is a fixed ATM usage fee of 250 pesos. This Boracay and Wise web pages may help: https://www.boracayinsider.com/atms/ https://wise.com/gb/blog/atms-in-the-philippines There was a dramatic difference on the weekend - where the number of domestic tourists greatly increased (mainly on Saturday / Sunday). For the other days, it was primarily foreign tourists. So, during the weekend I could say 50% domestic and 50% foreign. Outside of the weekend, the ratio felt like 30% domestic and 70% foreign. For packaged visitors, I only saw small groups of Koreans - but I do not know if they were part of a package tour or just a bunch of Koreans traveling together. For the EU tourists they were predominately French and Italian - but they were not high in numbers nor in packaged tour groups. There were also some Russians - but nowhere near the number of Russians that we see in Pattaya / Jomtien. We had requested from the hotel 2 twin beds but what we got instead was a king size bed. So, we slept together but there was no hanky-pank. The hotel reception did not hesitate with our check-in or room assignment. Even the larger staff never said anything or batted an eye. We did see other gays around but there was never any feeling of being under observation or harassment. I am sure that many people thought that Mr. B. and I were a couple - where I was the old retired sugar daddy with my young Filipino boytoy. The wave action was light and placid on the western side of Boracay where we were and was similar to Jomtien - but much cleaner than Jomtien - no brown coffee color. However, on the other eastern side of Boracay, there were waves and it was much more windier on that side of the island - which was conducive to the amount of wingfoiling, windsurfing, and kitesurfing we saw there. The waves were not huge but the water was much more agitated than on the other side of the island. We were told that the annual algae bloom season is from February to May and is caused by the run off caused by the rainy season which brings fertilizer nitrates and related runoff into the sea and with the warming of the sea temperature. They say low season is from June to November because that is when the wet season (rain and occasional typhoons) is. We need to remember that in December 2021 the super typhoon Odette hit Cebu - which rarely ever gets any typhoons. I believe that the last major typhoon (Ursula) to hit Boracay was in December (Christmas) of 2019. So, I might be cautious of December - even though December is not listed as being in low season from a weather point of view.

ok I will give away my secret. I take many pictures of the activities that I do and when I need to write my trip report I connect my phone to my laptop and I peruse the photos that I took on a given day and that triggers the memories for the trip report. I also have my timeline setting turned on in Google, so that all of my movements are being recorded - this system is not perfect - as Google many times associates me visiting places that I have not visited. But between the photos from my phone and the Google timeline - I am able to put together a trip report - even after many days have past. In fact, when I started my trip in Cebu, the first AirBnB did not have a desk, so I could not make any trip reports - so I was like 15 days behind when I finally moved to my second AirBnB that had a proper table and chair so I could create a desktop workstation. Also, when I write my trip reports, I like to augment them with maps and web links - as I find these very handy when I need to repeat a previous trip or I need to gather information from an already concluded trip for a friend. For this 62 day trip - it has been very helpful that I am often with Mr. B. - as he helps me to remember what we did on those days that were intense - where we visited many places in a single day.

Day 44 (10 February 2025) – Day 4 on Boracay Our return flight to Cebu is in the evening at 19:40pm and we try to ask our hotel for: A late check-out, Or, to avail us to another room, so that we would have our own bathroom and a place to shower and to store our stuff. Unfortunately, the hotel is fully booked – as it is high season and consequently, we need to check out at 11am and store our luggage in the hotel. I kept teasing Mr. B. that we were about to become homeless – and he laughed – as we would only be homeless for 5 hours – as Mr. B. had already called to book our return to the Caticlan airport for 4pm. I believe that our quoted return fare was only 650 pesos each ( ~ $11.26 USD). As Mr. B. had already completed his souvenir purchases the night before, it was now my turn to do my shopping and I had seen a store the prior night that I really liked for its quality t-shirts, but when we returned to our hotel last night it was already closed. https://www.facebook.com/fiestasouvenirsboracay/ I buy 2 shirts for myself and 1 for my Thai boyfriend. I have a weak spot for t-shirts that are embossed, where the letters protrude and appear to be coming out of the garment. I ask Mr. B. if he wants one and he declines my offer – as Mr. B. is truly a modest guy. Now that my shopping is out of the way, we still have way too many hours to kill. So, while walking northbound towards Boat Station 1, we come across the open air shopping mall. We never noticed it before, as we were more in a nature and sightseeing mode. This place is really huge and full of both local mom & pop stores, as well as high end brands. https://info.myboracayguide.com/boracay-dmall/ I kept noticing many tourists eating some yummy ice cream that was served in these big coconut shells and I told Mr. B. that I needed to have one. The name of this shop is https://www.facebook.com/cocomamaboracay/ and their ice cream combined with mango is truly decadent and so yummy. Mr. B. also had one. We still need to kill like 1.5 to 2 hours so we return to our daily favorite “Real Coffee” shop, https://www.facebook.com/originalrealcoffeeandteacafe/ where we eat our food VERY slowly and drink our coffees even more slowly. We return to our hotel at 3:30pm with only 30 minutes to kill and we change out of our beach sandals, wipe off the sand, and put our socks and sneakers on. The efficient and well organized Layod’s team arrives early and off we go in their van to the Boracay Jetty Port to wait for our ferry back to the Panay island mainland. We wait perhaps 10 minutes for the ferry to depart and then before we know it we are back at the Caticlan Jetty Port. We exit the ferry and another Layod’s team is waiting for us and drives us in their van back to the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport – and that ride is very short – like 7 minutes. We do the check-in and then go to our Gate 2 to wait for our flight departure which isn’t for another 2 hours. So more time to kill. Flight departs on time and we arrive like 10 minutes early into Cebu Mactan airport. I say goodbye to Mr. B., as he takes a taxi back to Cebu city and I take a taxi back to Mactan Newtown, which only takes 17 minutes. I realize that I am already missing Mr. B. - he is truly the perfect travel companion. I am super excited about my new AirBnB, as it is in my favorite Mactan Newtown building = One Pacific Residence (OPR). Check in is a breeze with the security team as they remember me. You may remember that I stayed here before and I was very happy with the prior AirBnB, except for the balcony sea view, which was out onto the Magellan Sea, where there are those 6 dilapidated ships from the 2021 super typhoon Odette stuck out in the sea. In this new condo, it has a view onto the Hilutungan Channel with a direct view of Olango island, Mactan airport, and Cebu city skyline. Unfortunately, as it is around 10pm, there is not much to see – but I am very happy with the layout of this larger condo unit. No massages or extra-curricular activities today. Day 44 (10 February 2025) – Day 4 on Boracay concluded.

I agree 200%. One of the BIG negatives with posting on this forum is that the EDIT option disappears after I believe 15 minutes - so I try really hard to perform a pre-edit in Word and then a post-edit after I post here in this forum - but sometimes mistakes and typos sneak through. My "Platoon" vs. "Pontoon" error was exacerbated by the gayguides.com server acting up in that I kept encountering: slow response posting and editing times, Upload failures, time outs where the EDIT option would already expire due to the slowness of the server. so, this particular update to this thread was very problematic. Normally, the gayguides.com server performs very well.

Thank you for sharing this with us @reader. This is why I abbhor when the local Thai immigration officials enter into the local gay areas here in Pattaya and Jomtien to look for "illegals". From a human rights point of view the Thai authorities must STOP deporting Myanmar nationals back to Myanmar as the military junta will force conscript them to fight for them and use them as human fodder. I know of a few dear Myanmar friend who work in Supertown who have to run for their lives everytime the Thai immigration officials decide its time to "play cat and mouse". They fear for their lives. Where is the compassion of the Thai authorities? 🤔🤔

I think that my mother's hereditary dementia is acting up. It's official name is: Pontoon Bridge. The problem that I have is that my brain associates it to being a "pier" instead of a "bridge". And with this brain confusion I start to call this bridge/pier by other names. Poor excuse on my part - I need to pay more attention to details. In my mind, a bridge has two sides and you use a bridge to cross from side a to side b. In the case of Boracay, this Pontoon "bridge" has no other side - as it just ends at the sea - which is used to allow the larger ships/boats to temporarily moor in the deeper part of the water to allow their passengers to embark or disembark. Also, I associate the word, "Pontoon" with the military - when they need to establish a floating structure. When I look at Boracay - the LAST think that I associate this paradise with is the military. So, big brain fart on my part.... Sorry....

Day 43 (09 February 2025) – Day 3 / Night 4 on Boracay continued: ok, picking up this thread from this point forward: Returning to our hotel, we take a walk out onto the Platoon Bridge (pier) to see what that gay boat looks like up and close, but nothing reveals her secrets to us. We note that it has the name = “Mega Paraw 2 Adventures”. Searching on the internet does not disclose anything gay about this company. Perhaps they just like gay flags?? https://www.facebook.com/megaparawtravel/ https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/111111647267615/mega-paraw-boracay/ Back to our hotel to relax. Later for our dinner choice, I ask Mr. B. to choose the restaurant, and he chooses the Henann Crystal Sands Resort, where we eat in their Sapphire restaurant, opting for their fixed price all-you-can-eat seafood dinner buffet. https://www.henann.com/henanncrystalsands/savor/sapphire It being Sunday night, the price was 1,199 pesos ( ~ $20.67 USD), which in my mind was amazing value for what was on selection. Instead of posting many pictures of what was on offer, I post this Filipino FB video of the selection: https://www.facebook.com/jayzarrecinto/videos/unlimited-seafood-buffet-at-sapphire-hennan-crystal-sands-resort-boracay/1924108991364542/ Just watch up to the 2 minute marker – as he then goes to eat with his family, which is not so interesting. After stuffing our faces, we venture deeper into the Boat Station 1 area – as we need to buy our souvenirs and/or t-shirts as we return to Cebu tomorrow evening. Mr. B., successfully buys some small pearl earrings and a bracelet for his work colleagues. As we never ventured into the little market stalls prior to today, we notice that there are many female Muslim workers – as we had not seen them before in our other adventures. I bring it to Mr. B.'s attention, to understand the ratio of Roman Catholics (78.8%) vs. Muslims (6.4%) in the Philippines. According to Google AI, the remainder of the population (14.8%) is made up of; 11% Protestant, 2.6% Iglesia ni Cristo, and 1.2% to other. Prior to this revelation, I had thought that the Philippine population was in the 90% percentile as Roman Catholics – so it was good to learn about religious diversity in the Philippines. We head back to our hotel to go to sleep and I mention to Mr. B., that I really like our “grandma” type of heavy duty curtains in our hotel room because you don’t see these types of curtains anymore and they are very good at keeping out the morning light. No massages or extra-curricular activities today. Day 43 (09 February 2025) – Day 3 / Night 4 on Boracay concluded.

Today the MIMA LINE group published the revised MIMA party date of 15 March 2025, to take place at the Avani Rachada Bangkok Hotel - in the Platinum Hall, From 6pm until 11pm. Below are the LINE screen shots as posted and with their accompanying Google Lens translation.