Trip report Jan/Feb 2025 - Cebu & beyond - Research if an elderly gay retiree can live comfortably in Cebu

[floridarob]

1 hour ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

This is what I do not like about the Filipino people – they are not taught how to think outside of the box and to take CONTROL when something goes wrong or goes in tilt.  Perhaps they are indoctrinated to not own a situation and empowered to fix it?

100%

I worked with them on the cruise ship and they would only quote Policy and Procedure....I tried to explain that that is a guide, a roadmap.... and if a bridge was washed out on the road you'd have to find another way around.....yet they would drive straight into a washed out bridge because they can't think outside the box 🤷‍♂️

Ever call into a call center and they read the stupid scripts and take forever to service your call, omg

[macaroni21]

@bkkmfj2648 A few things crossed my mind as I read your wonderful reports; you've probably thought of them too, but I'd like to know how you weigh these issues:

1. Seeing the empty field around your tower block and noting your comment that the seaside town is only half built, do you anticipate noisy, dusty construction activity right in front of your balcony in months/years to come? I am aware that you do not yet have a long lease on the apartment, but you seem to like that block and apartment.

2. Although I don't consider a one hour commute all that bad - it only requires proper planning for one's own errands - I wonder if it will deter grindr and other contacts from coming to you? Maybe a higher rate of no-shows? Maybe you'd have to cover their Grab cost to and fro (which may add USD 30 to your outlay each time). Especially if the hungry boys are mostly working in the business outsourcing industry of IT Park.

[bkkmfj2648]

3 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

re you planning on going over to Dumaguete?

They apparently call it "Dramagette"because of the expats fighting each other 

No - as one of the Philippine YouTube bloggers that I follow just had a MAJOR blowup in Dramagette (Dumaguete) and I do not want to waste my time there.

Also, when I checked some months ago, I could not find a Jomtien type of place with condos directly on the sea in Dumaguete so I ruled it out.  As there are more than 7.000 islands in the Philippiines I need to be very selective.

Remember the Marathon runner that I met in Cebu city that I wrote about in my 12 January post? 

He recommends that I go and check out Subic, Zambales as he said that they have hirise condos directly on the beach

[bkkmfj2648]

4 hours ago, floridarob said:

Ever call into a call center and they read the stupid scripts and take forever to service your call, omg

And this is funny to hear you say this when the Philippines has been the primary GLOBAL benefactor of the BPO - Business Process Outsourcing call center phenomena.  First it was India and then that did not work out as hoped.  So, the world picked up many of their BPOs and moved them to the Philippines.

I was part of the management team that created our internal BPO in Budapest, Hungary in 2008 and 2009.  We lifted and shifted expensive work processes that were being performed in our expensive HQ in Rome, Italy and moved them to Budapest, where the labor arbitrage (cost savings) was around 66%.

Some of our sister organizations had tried the India route but it did not go well due to the version of English accent that they speak there and consequently, they had to leave India after a while.

4 hours ago, floridarob said:

they would only quote Policy and Procedure....I tried to explain that that is a guide, a roadmap.... and if a bridge was washed out on the road you'd have to find another way around.....yet they would drive straight into a washed out bridge because they can't think outside the box 🤷‍♂️

Ever call into a call center and they read the stupid scripts and take forever to service your call, omg

What you wrote above also applied to our newly born internal BPO in Budapest - as they were formerly a communist country where they were VERY prone to follow the Policy and Procedures manual too exactly, which caused an uprising in our Rome, HQ office.  So, to mitigate this cultural barrier problem, we brought many of the Hungarian staff over to Italy so they could learn about the Italian way of doing things:

• let's meet to have a coffee,
• let's discuss what appears to be the problem,
• let's look at the Policy and Procedure manual for the "scappatoia" = loophole or work around to make it happen,
• if one cannot be found, let us ask a powerful bureaucrat for a "deroga" = waiver to said crazy policy,
• ironically this worked, because we discovered that in the Hungarian language, they also have a similar word = "kiskapu" = little gate = loophole - that they used to get around the lazy communist bureaucrats, 
• once the Italians and Hungarians understood that their respective cultures had already invented words to get around nasty bureaucrats, who have way too much time on their hands with the attitude of:  "I am a powerful manager and I will make all of your lives miserable and codify it" they LOVED each other and then our new in-house BPO was then loved by our Italian HQ,
• we later found out that the Hungarians were better at their "kiskapu" talents than our Italian staff with their "scappatioia" skills --> truly a match made in heaven.

How can we find this secret for the wonderful Filipino people ?

 

[EricV]

Filipinos are actually very creative in finding solutions - just wait till you need a contractor to fix something in your place or your car...you'll be amazed...

The problem is that in corporations, the employees are not empowered. And worse, in many cases, they will be punished for any mistake they make or policy violation. If they break something by mistake in the course of their work, the cost will come out of their salary - even if it is a month or two of salary... 

Also, most (regular) Filipinos abhor confrontation... So, don't be too harsh on them. If something just doesn't make sense, just smile nicely, say no problem, and keep going... 

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

How can we find this secret for the wonderful Filipino people ?

I think it's burned into them....I notice the same "mentality" with my pinoy friends in the USA

[floridarob]

2 minutes ago, EricV said:

The problem is that in corporations, the employees are not empowered. And worse, in many cases, they will be punished for any mistake they make or policy violation. If they break something by mistake in the course of their work, the cost will come out of their salary - even if it is a month or two of salary... 

Not unique to the Filipinas 🤷‍♂️ 

Yet they will die by it....

[bkkmfj2648]

5 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

I'd like to know how you weigh these issues:

1. Seeing the empty field around your tower block and noting your comment that the seaside town is only half built, do you anticipate noisy, dusty construction activity right in front of your balcony in months/years to come? I am aware that you do not yet have a long lease on the apartment, but you seem to like that block and apartment.

To answer your good question, I need to refer back to the Megaworld Mactan Newtown master development plan document, which can be seen here at:  https://yourhome.ph/property/the-mactan-newtown/

in the part of the document labeled: "Site Development Plan".

From my corner balcony, which is at the end of Tower A of my OPR complex and next to Tower 4 in the primary Newtown Blvd complex there will be NO construction between our 2 complexes as there is just not any physical space available. 

However, that empty field (indicated in the blue circle below) faces towards the Mactan Shrine, which affronts the Magellan Bay - and as you can see from the extracted portion of this immediate area of the master development plan there are NO new condos slated for that area.

However, there are 3 sites under construction (for which I can hear construction noises), which are for the:

• Mactan World Museum,
• The Pearl Global residences,
• and, see below updated map - new addition - the massive NEW Positano Mactan development

None of these 3 additional construction sites will block the view of the OPR tower that I am in - which means that for the other 3 towers in my complex they may have obstructed views.

I do like this end of the hallway unit - but I do not like facing the Magellan Bay, as it is not as majestic as the other sea views.  I would much prefer to face the Hilutungan Channel that separates Mactan island from the Olango island as shown in the below map.

I have not noticed any dusty conditions on me or on my balcony.  The noise from the Mactan Shrine of the youngsters playing their boom boxes and dancing and having fun is more loud than the distant construction noises.  But no noise to bother me from sleeping - as the city noises of honking jeepneys and motorbikes with loud exhausts are prevented by the Megaworld Mactan Newtown private security force from entering into the township - it is super controlled.

On 4 February, I will move to the building across the street, One Manchester, for 2 nights, which will put me right next to the The Pearl Global residences, which are currently being built - so I can assess again the noise and line-of-site from that condo unit as it is supposed to have a beautiful balcony sea view.

But, I am thinking that when I return from Boracay, to try and rent an AirBnB that is facing the sea that is towards Olango island so that I can assess which sea view is truly better.

5 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

2. Although I don't consider a one hour commute all that bad - it only requires proper planning for one's own errands - I wonder if it will deter grindr and other contacts from coming to you? Maybe a higher rate of no-shows? Maybe you'd have to cover their Grab cost to and fro (which may add USD 30 to your outlay each time). Especially if the hungry boys are mostly working in the business outsourcing industry of IT Park.

I do not know if it would deter the local trade that resides back in Cebu city to make the 1 hour journey to Mactan Newtown - but I am sure that I would need to add 1,800 pesos (for taxi) to their charge of 3.000 pesos to come all this way.  However, I do notice that there is some local trade available - but to date I have only availed of 1 person so far, the kindergarten teacher - as I have not been feeling too horny of late - these things happen to us elderly retirees.  Hopefully, my horniness will return soon.

Plus, we need to remember, that the Mactan Newtown township is a tiny spec on Mactan island, which is primarily made up of Lapu-Lapu city, which has 520,418 residents, and if 10% are open to gay things - then that would be 52,000 potential possibilities.

 

[bkkmfj2648]

23 minutes ago, EricV said:

Also, most (regular) Filipinos abhor confrontation... So, don't be too harsh on them. If something just doesn't make sense, just smile nicely, say no problem, and keep going... 

Hi @EricV, I agree 200% with what you wrote.

But, what should have I done in the case of the Metro department store staff created crisis situation? 

They were literally blocking me from leaving the 6th floor to get back into the Ayala mall - which unfortunately only goes up to floor 4 and I was on floor 6 in the Metro department store.

I had no choice but to tell the security guard to move out of my way - to walk with my luggage on the immobilized escalator - as the only other alternative, the elevator was malfunctioning because they overloaded the only single elevator by taking the escalator out of service when the store is open. 

Perhaps they should do escalator maintenance after the mall closes at 10pm ?

 

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 35 (01 Febuary 2025)

 

I wake up to discover that the health of my Thai boyfriend has deteriorated.  He now has a fever and is shivering and has a very sore throat.  He gets one of his friends to go to the pharmacy to buy him some medications and throat sprays and lozenges.

Breakfast in my room and I do some work on my laptop.

For lunch I walk over to the Mactan Alfresco open air food market and I order a strange dish (when I am in a new country I like to try new things).  This dish is called Pinakbet, which is an Ilocos vegetable dish made of okra, eggplant, bitter gourd, squash, tomatoes and bagoong (shrimp or fish paste).  It was yummy – but I forgot that sometimes that I do not like okra – especially when it is too stringy and hard to chew down into digestible pieces.  So, some of the okra was easy to chew and some were not.

While they were preparing my meal I walked over to the Pickup coffee truck to order a Pickup Crème Latte – large – so good.

I walked around the Mactan Newtown township checking out the various parking lots to see where I could put my to-be rented motorbike.   I noticed that they all have the same pricing scheme of 30 pesos (~ $0.51 USD) per day for motorbikes.  Not bad.  All of the township condo buildings do not provide parking to non tenants (which us AirBnB “refugee” people are).

Now the big question is why am I not calling a Grab car to bring me to the Q Adventures motorbike rental shop?

I hate when I get in these procrastinating moods.  I feel that it is based on fear of riding a motorbike in a foreign country.  Back in Thailand, I will only ride a motorbike in Jomtien or over on any of the islands – where I feel relatively safe.  I won’t drive a motorbike into Pattaya city as I just don’t feel safe and capable enough.  Out here on Mactan island, the traffic is relatively calm – so I should not be afraid.

My silly objective is to ride out to where Mactan island ends at its most exterior point.  I come from Long Island, in New York, and I loved driving out to the most extreme point of the south fork, to Montauk point.

I know myself – I just need to be ready to do it and it can only happen when my confidence is ready….

So, as a substitute and being a good procrastinator, I decide to walk over to the Mactan Shrine – which is only a 10 minute walk from my condo building.  It is what I see when I stand on my balcony and look towards the sea (Magellan Bay), as the monument sits at the edge of the lagoon that becomes the eventual bay.

The Mactan Shrine park is surrounded by this mysterious perimeter fence with the face of the Lapu-Lapu warrior, that I could not resist to take my picture with:

You enter and it is free other than the people on entry who try to get you to rent one of their umbrellas for anti-sun purposes.  I did not rent one. If you are a history buff, then this is an interesting place from a historical point of view.

First point of interest is the monument where the Lapu-Lapu local men repulsed the Spanish invaders and killed Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 – the first time that Filipinos killed Spanish invaders.  Behind the stone is a depiction of the battle that ensued.

The next point of interest is the Mactan Shrine, where part of it is missing, when the nasty super typhoon, Odette, struck Mactan and Cebu, in December 2021.  What is fascinating is that this shrine was built in 1866 and survived for 155 years quite well until the year 2021.

Next point of interest is the Lapu-Lapu monument which is quite impressive.

Towards the water are the mangroves and lagoon that go out towards the Magellan Bay.

Other points of interest is the tourist souvenir area and I picked up a new sea shell necklace – I am a sucker for those and my previous purchase was on Koh Tao (Turtle Island) back in Thailand – but it is already starting to fall apart.

I also note that the park is quite full of Filipino youngsters congregated in groups off in the perimeter edges, where there is some shade, dancing, listening to music, and having a fun time with their friends – it is a very high energy happy place.

Lastly, here is a photo from my OPR balcony of the Mactan Shrine illuminated at night – notice the blue firefly types of lights in the background – those are attached to the mangroves to give it that mystical and magical look.

To learn more, I share this link:

https://pinkflushedcheeks.blogspot.com/2016/07/an-afternoon-at-mactan-shrine.html

I go back to the Mactan Newtown township to get some dinner at my usual An’Dale food cart to eat my preferred meal = Cebu Chorizo Shawarma.

Return to my room and I check up on my Thai boyfriend and there is no improvement.  I try to push him to go to the doctor and/or hospital - and I believe that he will eventually do so, as you can only shiver for so long before you surrender and ask for help.

With that, I call it a night.

 

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 35 (01 Febuary 2025) concluded.

[Travelingguy]

The Thai guy who lives paycheck to paycheck regardless of how much he makes or what bills he has is not going to change.

The passive aggressive Filipino who smiles as they stick to the script and you get nowhere is not going to change.

People very rarely change in fundamental ways, and that includes you and me.

Cultures are even harder to change.

So we have to accept people how they are.  That does not mean that you cannot set boundaries in your relationships, but life is too short to be trying to change people. 

[EricV]

@bkkmfj2648 I think you did exactly the right thing by going past the security guy down the escalator. 

Your story sounded very familiar - I've been in that situation, having been sent in circles, getting upset and doing the common sense thing in the end anyway.

Now, I try to do the common sense thing before I get upset and while I can still smile at the person asking me to do something non-sensical... better for my heart & everybody involved...

A little rule bending here & there will make your life in the Philippines a lot easier...

@Travelingguy

[bkkmfj2648]

1 hour ago, Travelingguy said:

Cultures are even harder to change.

but as I wrote earlier in this thread - you can find peace and harmony when you can find ways in which the 2 cultures have something in common.  In what I posted earlier in this thread - that magic was in linking 2 different cultures that were clashing by what they had in common - which was their internal word for "loophole" = "scappatoia" in Italian and "kiskapu" in Hungarian.

I have yet to discover this way to find magical harmony here in the Philippines - but what @EricV says is sage advice.

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 36 (02 Febuary 2025)

I woke up to heavy rain – which put me in a do nothing kind of mood.  Oh no, I am still procrastinating about renting that motorbike.  How will I overcome this procrastination?

While I was sleeping my Thai boyfriend finally went to the hospital at 3:15am in the morning as he could no longer resist the shivering, fever, chills, and swollen throat with coughing. This doctor gives him some medicines and sends him home and tells him that if he is not better tomorrow morning to go get a thorough examination.  So, around 11:15am his friend takes him to see the doctor specialist to have his blood work done with those results coming back on Tuesday 04 February.  There is a long period of radio silence and as the rain has stopped, I go to have lunch and I eat a nice dish of Pancit and Lumpia – noodles with chicken and some vegetables over in the Mactan Alfresco outdoor food court.  I also order some spring rolls with also my favorite iced coffee à all very yummy.

At 3:15pm the radio silence is lifted, and my Thai boyfriend gives me a kind of scary news.  He has a respiratory tract infection in his lungs with something clinging in the lungs that needs some strong antibiotics (if I have understood what he tried to tell me – his English is so and so).  He has blood work done and consequently, there is a nice bill to pay to the hospital and doctor.

We get into an intense discussion that he needs to take better care of his health, drink less kratom on the beach with his friends, etc.  Thank God that he does not smoke or do drugs – but he likes his alcohol and kratom.  He agrees to cut back his kratom intake, as I tell him that I am counting on him to be healthy and strong, so that he can take care of me if I will eventually follow the dreaded path of my mother (and also her mother and sister) = dementia.

As I am now worried about all of this news – what do I do?  I go and have a BIG cake and another iced coffee

at this place within the Mactan Newtown township, called: CIVIT Coffee.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Civet%20Coffee%20Mactan%20Newtown/207676639878638/#

I take a walk over to the LG Garden Walk small mall to look at the Anytime Fitness gym to see what it looks like.  I am impressed to learn that it is open 24 hours 7 days a week (my gym back in Jomtien was open 7 days a week from 7am until 10pm – but with limited hours on Sunday – opening at 2pm).

The Anytime Fitness daily pass is 500 pesos  (~ $8.54 USD).  I was not able to get a monthly rate estimate, as it is based on several factors and promotions, and since I do not live here, they could not calculate an estimate for me.  The nice thing about it being open 24 hours is that outside of the hours when it is staffed ( 9am to 9pm on weekdays and 10am to 7pm on weekends ), you are given a FOB (electronic keycard) so that you can enter when you want.

I found an old article on the internet that listed the following Anytime Fitness membership prices (for comparison purposes😞)

The Jomtien Fitness gym back in Thailand costs 1,530 Thai baht (~ $45.05 USD) per month

Anytime Fitness here in Mactan just outside of Mactan Newtown is 2,500 pesos (~ $42.72 USD) per month

So, there is not much price differential between Jomtien, Thailand versus Mactan (Cebu), Philippines.   However, what the Philippine offering is for 24 hour access --> so there is more value from an availability point of view.

https://www.anytimefitness.ph/gyms/ph-0122/lapu-lapu-city-cebu-6016/

I head back to my condo and I do a thorough walk through of the 4^th floor where the gym, tennis court, onsens, pool, rock climbing wall, etcetra are.  There is even an outer walkway loop that circumnavigates the entire complex where you can do jogging.  I was quite impressed, as this OPR condo complex is truly upscale and is a dream place to live for an elderly retiree.  The only thing missing is to find some gays – on the apps there are only 2 to 3 nearby, within this building.  Also, I took a dip in the pool, and I was the only non Korean in the water.  I do note that I found many of the Korean men to be hot – but they were all with their wives and many children.

Later on I went to my usual place for dinner to eat my usual delicious meal (see yesterday).

I check in on my Thai boyfriend before going to bed and he is slightly better – Hallelujah!!

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 36 (02 Febuary 2025) concluded.

[jamiebee]

 

On 2/2/2025 at 7:48 AM, bkkmfj2648 said:

 

This is what I do not like about the Filipino people – they are not taught how to think outside of the box and to take CONTROL when something goes wrong or goes in tilt.  Perhaps they are indoctrinated to not own a situation and empowered to fix it?  I do not know, but it is very irritating, as this is not the first time that things go in tilt and they just can’t deal with it.  Someone needs to restructure the social order in the Philippines so that these kind wonderful people can be empowered to help during a crisis.  They should not be punished by their bosses for going out of the script written by said boss when there is a crisis.

 

I really enjoyed reading your trip reports and your adventures and misadventures while searching for an alternative place to retire. 

As a Filipino myself, you are 💯 correct. Before becoming an expat I was also like this, this way of thinking was ingrained to everyone's upbringing. Just follow and don't ask questions, otherwise you will be pointed as being disrespectful for talking back. 😵‍💫

[jamiebee]

On 2/2/2025 at 6:18 PM, bkkmfj2648 said:

The next point of interest is the Mactan Shrine, where part of it is missing, when the nasty super typhoon, Odette, struck Mactan and Cebu, in December 2021.  What is fascinating is that this shrine was built in 1866 and survived for 155 years quite well until the year 2021.

 

2 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Day 36 (02 Febuary 2025)

I woke up to heavy rain – which put me in a do nothing kind of mood.  Oh no, I am still procrastinating about renting that motorbike.  How will I overcome this procrastination?

 

@bkkmfj2648  Speaking of rain and Typhoons, have you took in consideration that we in the Philippines go through an average of 20 Typhoons every year? But I think Cebu does not get hit quite often as other part of the Philippines though.

[bkkmfj2648]

5 hours ago, jamiebee said:

Speaking of rain and Typhoons, have you took in consideration that we in the Philippines go through an average of 20 Typhoons every year? But I think Cebu does not get hit quite often as other part of the Philippines though.

Thanks for your feedback - especially since you are a REAL Filipino.  You Filipinos are a great and kind people and I can see why many elderly would want to retire here.

Yes, the Typhoon concern was high on my list when I started to do the preliminary research for this trip and locations to decide on.  Typhoon Odette was a true unfortunate 2021 event for this Cebu / Mactan area.  But the locals tell me that Typhoons are not too frequent here in Cebu. 

I currently live as a retiree in the Pattaya / Jomtien area, which is in the northern part of the larger Gulf of Thailand and consequently, this location protects it from typhoons - as they tend to hit further south.

However, the negative for Pattaya - is that being so far north in the Gulf of Thailand - the sea water is less clean.  Whereas, in the south the sea water is much more cleaner, transparent, and turquoise. 

@jamiebee - would you know of the existence of any other areas in the Philippines that have a Jomtien look to it?  In that there are nice hirise condos near the beach with balconies with a decent size accompanying city/town?  Kind of what is like here at Mactan Newtown ?

I see that Mactan Newtown will be FANTASTIC when they finish building it (it is currently like 50% completed) in another 3 to 5 years and I can see it becoming a top retiree destination in the Philippines.

I have researched many many seaside places but none have hirise condos on the beach with balconies to enjoy the seaview.  Often there are many hirise condo buildings but without balconies.

Thanks.

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 37 (03 February 2025)

Breakfast in my room determined to go and finally rent a motorbike.

I go out onto the Newtown Blvd. (main street) and I walk around looking to hire a taxi – as I do not want to use the Grab app as I want to talk with a real human being. I find one who is quite talkative and when I show him on my phone the motorbike rental place he gives me a BIG smile, and runs into his taxi to pull out a big placard that has the name of the same place.  Wow – the Q Adventures team is really doing a good marketing campaign.

The fee to take me from Mactan Newtown to the adjoining neighborhood, where Q Adventures is located is 300 pesos (~ $5.13 USD), which includes waiting for me in case there are no motorbikes available.  The ride is about 15 minutes – as the street off of the main road is VERY narrow with tons of people out milling about = very crowded – so you can only move ever so slowly – it reminded me of my work trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh.  We get to the gate of the house and it looks to be closed – I am sad, but the taxi driver is very insistent and starts knocking on the metal gate and 2 things simultaneously occur, a neighbor guy walks over to us and speaks in Cebuano to the taxi driver about something – but my taxi driver ignores him.  An then from behind the metal gate a young guy opens the gate and lets us in.  They have 1 remaining bike, out of like 35 bikes – you can seeThe beast that I rented from the Q Adventures YouTube channel that he is very popular and well liked and consequently, everyone wants to rent motorbikes from him.  My taxi guy leaves as he understands that I will be ok and I pay him.

For some unknown reason, I am trembling – this happens to me when I feel stressed – it was unnecessary – as everyone was kind and friendly.  The owner, Derek, of Q Adventures steps outside and I greet him and I tell him that I am one of his YouTube followers.  Derek is a great guy.

Derek and his assistant, can see that I am slightly trembling and ask me, have you ridden a motorbike before?  I reply, yes, I drive a PCX motorbike back in Thailand.  I told them that I am a bit tense about being able to drive on a motorbike that I do not know and in a country with whom I am not familiar with their driving style.  The reassure me that I will be ok and they fit me for a proper motorbike helmet. 

The beast that I rented

 

The fee is 700 pesos (~ $12 USD) and I take the motorbike for 48 hours.  I head out of their compound and ride through the narrow Dhaka type of street back onto the main road paying attention to not hit any of the gazillion people walking on the narrow winding road (remember that it is very rare that there are sidewalks).  I make it back onto the main road, which is more relaxed (it is wider and there are less people jutting in and out in front of you).

Now I can head for what I call, “the end of the earth”, that exciting feeling that you are going to drive until the road goes no more.  So, I drive to the famous Punta Engaño Road, and head to Arterra Hotel & Resort, which sits at the extreme most northern point of Mactan island that juts out into the sea.

Along the way I pass the Sheraton and Dusit Thani resorts – as this part of Mactan island is full of many existing resorts.  Many new resorts were under construction along this journey, including; Aruga Resort, Rockwell Land Corporation (RLC), and the Abacá Resort.  So, this area of Mactan island is getting a lot of wealthy upscale attention.

When the Punta Engaño Road ends, you have 2 choices – 1.) enter into an area marked no trespassing – private property, or 2.) turn left where there are 2 guards with a lowered barrier that ask you what is your purpose.  I tell the 2 guards that I want to take photos at the point of Mactan island where it ends.  They reply that if you are not a hotel guest that I cannot enter the grounds. They see that I am sad.  So, one of the guards tries to help me to ask the “right question”.  Sir, are you hungry and want to eat lunch at the Arterra resort?  I say, well yes sir, I am very hungry.  Then they open the road barrier and say to me, “enjoy your lunch sir…..” as they are both smiling at me.

So, @EricV, you are so right about the Filipino people being creative and to help you along within the existing rule framework.

http://www.arterra.com.ph/en/

I park my motorbike out front and I enter into the massive dining hall:

to order my mango salad lunch:

 

While I was eating, the general manager came over to introduce himself and we have a long chat about my visit to the Philippines and I ask him if after I finish my lunch if I can take some photos and he says sure that I can.

I am a happy camper as I completed my objective and had a wonderful day.  I drive back to the Mactan Newtown township and drive around the complex several times – why?  I do not know but it made me feel good.  Then I go to one of the designated parking areas and pay my 30 pesos to part the motorbike.

I go back to my room and I find myself very sleepy so I take a nap.  I wake up kind of late and I run over to get my usual dinner at the And’ale food cart and eat my fabulous Cebu Chorizo salad meal.

I walk back over to the LG Garden Walk mall to see it at night time all lite up.

I return to my room and check up on my Thai boyfriend who is now doing very well and is already back at the Jomtien soi 4 beach with his friends.

I go to bed early, as I have to get up early to pack and prepare for my move from this AirBnB OPR condo to the One Manchester AirBnB condo, which is directly across the street.

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 37 (03 Febuary 2025) concluded.

 

[jamiebee]

@bkkmfj2648 I'm sorry I can't really help you with any suggestions at the moment as I'm out of touch on everything back home. In 2010, I left the Philippines at 22yrs old and been one of the so many expats working here in Dubai, since then I have gone back only every 2 years for less than a month each time🙃🙃 

[bkkmfj2648]

I apologize for the quality of the above Day 37 (03 February 2025) trip report - I did it in a rush and I had already packed my mouse and keyboard - and I was reduced to using the laptop built-in touchpad, which I hate, and consequently, the quality of my postings deteriorates.

Day 38 (04 Febuary 2025) - prepared with my separate mouse and keyboard  :>)

Restless night sleeping and I wake up too early. Try to go back to sleep but it was not a good second sleep.

Eat breakfast in the room and I pack my bags and luggage for the move across the street.  There is still 1 hour to kill, so I quickly post yesterday's trip report update (sloppily).

At 11am I “check out” of the room with the understanding that I can leave my luggage in the room in a corner to not obstruct Juliet and her husband from being able to clean the room for the next AirBnB guest..  So, I walk over to Civit Coffee and I drink it very slowly until 12:15pm,  Then I move over to the Mactan Alfresco open air food court to eat a very slow lunch.  At 1:45pm, I head back to my OPR condo to move the luggage from my room over to the One Manchester building to start the check-in process with their security team and with Estela, the Filipina lady who takes care of the AirBnB room for the owner who is in Australia.  Her and I have a great conversation in the room, as I discover that she lives in a small home that is over by the Dusit Thani resort, which I passed yesterday on the motorbike.  She was quite impressed that I want to go out and explore and to not only stay within the Jim Carrey fake Truman Show walls of the Mactan Newtown township.

For @macaroni21, this new building, One Manchester Residence (OMR), is not as nice as the luxurious OPR (One Pacific Residence) AirBnB condo that I just left.  Furthermore, the OMR tower that I am in, is directly adjacent to both The Pearl Global Residences and La Victoria Global Residences, with construction going on day and night and you can hear it in my room.  Let’s see how I will sleep tonight.

https://www.megaworldluxury.com/cebu/the-pearl-global-residences/

https://www.megaworldluxury.com/cebu/la-victoria-global-residences/

In my previous condo, I was isolated from this construction noise, as I was in the farthest tower away and on the opposite side of the street.

The good news is that the views from my new AirBnB OMR balcony (when not looking at the 2 distinct construction sites) are sweeping and are comprised of the 2 bodies of beautiful blue water, which are:

• Magellan Bay --> this was the view that I had in the previous condo,
• Hilutungan Channel (the waterway that separates Mactan island from Olango island).  This is the sea that I was trying to have a view on as it is more beautiful in my opinion.  I was told by both Estela – the housekeeper of this AirBnB and also when I went to visit the official Megaworld realtors – that there are very few condos that face the Hilutungan Channel and to find one is a rare in demand find.

When I look to the left I can finally see downtown Cebu city where my first 32^nd floor AirBnB condo was.  Remember, from the balcony of this Cebu city condo that I could see the Mactan Newtown and Mactan airport.

And this is the view from the balcony that makes this AirBnB condo special --> to have a seaview of BOTH of the 2 important waterways as shown above.

I have a nice WhatsApp chat with Mr. B, as he is curious how my move went and more importantly to discuss our trip to Boracay on Thursday, in just 2 days.

 

By now it is almost 3pm and I want to jump on my motorbike to ride out of the parking lot, but the parking attendant tells me that I need to pay another 30 pesos – as 1 day has already elapsed.  I then drive again to the end of the Mactan island and explore some of the different areas before sunset and it gets dark.  I had hoped to find some fun beaches to access, but unlike in Jomtien, where you can access the beach freely wherever you want, that is not the case here because those beaches that are maintained and groomed are part of these 3, 4, and 5 star  hotel resorts and consequently, there are no other places where you can just park your motorbike and take a walk on the beach.  This concept just does not seem to exist  - at least here in this Mactan area.

Sun is setting so I return to the Mactan Newtown township and park the motorbike after paying for another 24 hours = 30 pesos.  I am itching for some good Italian food, so I walk over to the  and I eat at the   Italian restaurant:

https://www.facebook.com/p/Taste-of-Lucania-Italian-Restaurant-100090292723715/

I ordered the scrumptious Crab Cake, and then the Octopus with Asparagus dish, followed with a yummy Mango + Coconut dessert.  And my drink was an Aperol Spritz.  Truly a lovely dinner, as shown below:

I return to my new condo room and I do not attempt to unpack my steamer trunk – as I will go to the airport in 2 days and this steamer trunk will go into the X10 storage here in Mactan Newtown.

I crash on the sofa and had a great nap – even with the nearby construction noise going on.

I wake up and have a lovely LINE video chat with my Thai boyfriend, who is sitting with his friends on the Jomtien soi 4 enjoying the sunset and he is looking really good after that nasty sickness.  I was very surprised (and also proud) when he told me: “there is a Mor Lam concert tonight in North Pattaya and all of my friends are going…..”, he pauses – as he knows me all too well, and before I could open my mouth, he says to me, “I decided to not go as it is more important to get fully healthy again….”  He smiles at me – as he knows that I was just about to launch into a tirade – but instead I was really proud of him for deciding by himself to put his health first.  Hallelujah!!!

I finish writing this update and off to bed.

 

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 38 (04 Febuary 2025)  concluded.

[macaroni21]

11 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

and I was reduced to using the laptop built-in touchpad, which I hate, and consequently, the quality of my postings deteriorates.

I hate using the touchpad too. It's very limiting. 

[reader]

1 hour ago, macaroni21 said:

I hate using the touchpad too. It's very limiting. 

+1

[EricV]

@bkkmfj2648 glad you rented the moto, drove to the end of the island and had a good experience with the guards. I found that if you smile and are kind, most Filipinos will go out of their way to help you go/do what you want...

I did think about other options - high rise beach places - for your trip to Vietnam. Danang is a great choice as your primary base. 

You could also check out Nha Trang: endless beach, lots of high rise, many tourists, mostly Russian, plenty of tourist infrastructure/restaurants/bars/massage places...

Kind of opposite is Vung Tau, about 2 1/2h from HCMC/SGN airport (direct Van available). Lots of high rise being built along the beach, mostly Vietnamese tourists, few foreigners, but English spoken. Can't help with gay bars/clubs/massages in either city, but based on your Cebu report, you are very good at figuring that out.

Have fun on Boracay, looking forward to your report.

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 39 (05 Febuary 2025) 

Construction worker news.  At 10:30pm the previous night, they stopped their work.  I went to bed around 11:30pm so no loud noises for me.  They restart working around  7:30am, so that is a pretty long period to rest and have peace.  I can report that even when they are working in the 2 adjacent distinct construction sites, the noise is tolerable – but I am from New York, so I already have a high tolerance for noise.

Photo taken this morning from the One Manchester Residence courtyard

 

Ate breakfast and then I went out to look for a taxi that I could hire so that I could follow the taxi car to the motorbike rental place – as it is in that area that is like the most intense part of Dhaka, Bangladesh.  Also, the taxi would be able to take me back to Mactan Newtown after I dropped off the motorbike.  I go to the taxi stand where I found the original taxi guy from 2 days prior and one of the taxi drivers aggressively intervenes as I am trying to look inside each taxi car – as I wanted to identify my original driver as I had told him that I would use him to return my motorbike rental.  This aggressive taxi guy got on my last nerve and I turned around and yelled loudly – “Back OFF buddy -  I am looking for a specific taxi driver from a couple of days ago!!…”  He took a step back and then I felt bad and I explained to him who I was looking for and he told me that he was out on a taxi run at the moment and that one of the other taxi drivers could take me to return the motorbike.  Now I was feeling like an ass – but once my anger gets triggered I just can’t hold back my rage.  He explains to me that there is a queue system and that I should go with the first taxi car in the line up.  I say ok and I say that I am sorry.  My taxi guy charges me 300 pesos to go and 300 pesos to return.  It was the same price as what I paid to go and get the motorbike originally, so I just agreed.

So, I follow my taxi driver and all was easy on the main road but once we turn onto the narrow side road that meanders towards the beach it is slow moving, as the volume of people walking (there are not sidewalks) on the street prevents 2-way traffic, so it is a constant game of give-and-take to get through – just like in Dhaka.  I really do not know how the people can live like that every day.  There is no danger as everyone is friendly – but my fear is that I would hit one of the gazillion pedestrians or hit a jeepney or car.  We make it back to the Q Adventures motorbike place and I realize that I forgot to top-up the gas – so I tell the attendant and he only charges me 50 pesos more – as only 1 click was used up on the gas gauge.  What I found amazing is that they did not check the bike for damage or anything – they just took my word for it.  So, I would highly recommend this Q Adventures place if you are out here on Mactan island and you want to drive around on a motorbike.

https://www.youtube.com/@QAdventures

Derek, the owner of Q Adventures told me that his business out here on Mactan island is booming and they are thinking of expanding by opening a 2^nd motorbike rental shop in Cebu city – so stay tuned.  I told him that he should open a motorbike rental shop in the Mactan Newtown township – because this morning when I went to the parking area to get “my” motorbike the key would not work.  I was like totally confused and then I realized that there were more than 1 motorbike in the parking lot with the Q Adventures insignia.  Eventually I found mine.   Hahahahaha….

Extract from Google map from the main road onto the Buyong road

 

I really liked my taxi guy so I already reserve him for my ride to the airport tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.  We exchange WhatsApp so we can keep in touch.

Then I walk to the Mactan Alfresco open air food court and I eat a typical Filipine dish = Pork Belly Sisiq – it was very yummy, but I am not sure how healthy it is.  I seem to love dishes that are served to me in piping hot cast iron skillets.

On the way back to my room I stop at the X10 office to ask if they are truly opened 24 hours as indicated on their website at:  https://luggagestoragecebu.com/

But, the 2 Filipina ladies pasted the above typed sign onto the shop window.  I said to them, are you aware that the official web page states that you are open 24 hours?  They look perplexed as if they have never seen the official web page of the company that they work for.  I then tell them that they need to tell the owner(s) [ from their web page they appear to be Dutch with their primary business being real estate and to rent and manage their 28 condo units in AirBnB in various buildings throughout the Mactan Newtown township ].  They just smile at me, and I then realized that probably nothing will happen, as it has been this way for almost 1 year already.  I just feel sorry for the poor soul who might need to leave or retrieve their luggage after 9pm and they are trusting the validity of the official X10 webpage.

I am harping on this trivial fact, because it is having an impact on my decision as to where I should go to live/reside from 10 February 2025 forward, and that I want to already do that booking before heading off to Boracay – as I don’t want to worry about this on fun and relaxing Boracay.

I believe in the fate of the universe – so, the universe forced my hand, as our flight back on Monday 10 February arrives at 9pm – the same time as the luggage storage shop closes – so I will be forced to stay in Mactan Newtown to retrieve my steamer trunk in the morning after.  Mr. B. had been pushing me to return back to Cebu city – so, I will stay one more week in Mactan Newtown and then for my last 2 weeks in the Philippines I will go back to Cebu city.  In this way, I can use that week in Mactan Newtown to explore nearby Olango and Bohol islands.

Back to my room to dissect my steamer trunk into:

• What will go with me to Boracay,
• What will go into the X10 storage.

But more urgently, I start looking through the AirBnB and Booking.com websites for accommodation from 10 Feb – 18 Feb.  The biggest headache is that 14 February is a Friday and everything is mostly booked for that Valentine’s Day weekend.  Also, I am struggling to find rooms that overlook Olango island – as mostly everything here only faces the Magellan Bay.  I write to the X10 guys – as they have 28 AirBnBs and of course they do not respond.  Hahahaha.  Excellent customer service between their baggage storage operating hours and helping customers into one of their 28 AirBnBs as stated on their web page at: http://www.airbnb.com/p/x10

I find a nice AirBnB accommodation back in the One Pacific Residence (OPR), the previous condo building that I really liked, as it is very luxurious and the balcony view looks like it could be looking towards Olango island.  I write to the owner and after 9 hours she still has not yet responded.  AirBnB gives them 24 hours to respond – so let us see my fate at 11am tomorrow morning.

All of that consumes most of the afternoon and it is time to eat dinner and like a loyal dog I return to my favorite place to eat at:  An’Dale –

https://www.instagram.com/andaleeats/?hl=en

 

As you may have noticed, I keep saying that I want to have a room with a different sea view. 

Well, today I find out where this internal impulse of mine originates from.

The Magellan Sea – looks somewhat like a ship graveyard – which detracts from its natural beauty.  Every morning when I wake up and look out towards the Magellan Sea, the tide is low and these stranded abandoned ships, that seem to be strangely parked (moored) are a result of the Super Typhoon Odelle, that struck this greater Cebu area in December 2021.  So, I discovered that this is the reason for this eerie dismal look – as these huge ships were pushed into their current shipwrecked positions by Odelle.  Whereas, when you look over in the Hilutungan Channel that separates Mactan island from Olango island there does not appear to by any shipyard graveyards like there is in the Magellan Sea – thus rendering the Hiluntungan Channel in a more appealing natural way.

Example of one of the 6 stranded ships sitting on the coral reef after super typhoon Rai “Odelle” passed through in December 2021

 

However, there is hope as the Philippine Coast Guard has ordered that these 6 vessels be removed.  In my opinion, this will make the Magellan Sea to look less gloomy.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/coast-guard-orders-firm-to-remove-stranded-vessels

 

Back to my room – prepare this update, chat in LINE with my Thai boyfriend and call it a night.

 

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 39 (05 Febuary 2025)  concluded.

[colmx]

i stumbled across this thread last night and binged on it, thanks for all the efforts @bkkmfj2648, its a pity that most posters will miss out on this extended TR with it being buried on the Philippines forum. Perhaps ts worth creating a cross post on the Thailand forum to help readers find this gem.

Some initial thoughts:

• 3 hair cuts in 35 days, your hair must grow crazy fast!
• That botched (from a western perspective) Pinoy circumcision has always put me off their cocks. Traditionally they don't remove the skin and instead perform a dorsal slit, a single incision along the upper length of the foreskin from the tip to the corona, exposing the glans without removing any tissue.
• I notice that your body count went from an average of 1 a day to an average of 0 a day when you were in Mactan Newtown.
  • Why do you think that was? was it distance from the mainland, lack of quality available? And if so would this factor into a decision to live in Mactan Newtown?