Recently I had a discussion in an expatriate group on Facebook about how many times the ATM break down and how there is always a long queue- especially when people get paid mid way through the month and at the end of the month. The guy I was talking to said he had never experienced such problems and so I went back to check. The next day one of the two machines was out of order at BDO next to Palawan Uno hotel and 4 out of the 6 machines at Robinsons. Why am I telling you this? Because it's the practical things people do not tell you in these " You can retire to the Philippines on $20,000 a year" articles!
The weather is the next thing. 6 months rain and 6 months sun. What they dont tell you is its a tropical rainforest climate with lots of devastating typhoons and landslides blocking roads. Once we had to ride back to our hotel on the back of our fire truck the water was so deep!
Kuya Ran and I on the fire truck on the way back to El Nido
There are , of course, hundreds of things I like about living in the Philippines ( see more here https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2022/09/tbk-travels-to-seaside-for-chesters.html). The beaches, the people, the food, the weather, the cheap cost of living, Merienda, naps, and the way everyone wishes you " Ingat" !
I moved here after 12 years living in the Middle East where everything is fast from Lifts in the 30 floor buildings, to people packing your bags in the supermarkets , and cars flashing you if you are going too slow. So to come here with snail speed internet connection, having to pack your own bag after a long wait in the supermarket to get to the front of the queue , and taking 30 minutes to travel 10 km behind trikes which should not even be on the road takes a bit of getting used to!
The queues are awful in Robinsons, SM and NCC Malls!
Please don't think its just me- I know people who refuse to shop at Robinsons and I now have someone who gets my shopping for me and delivers it to my house weekly. There are some great comments online too:"The employees move slower than molasses".
Source: https://foursquare.com/v/robinsons-supermarket/4e5b2cada8098920b3d5113d?tipId=543f8ced498ea4a5720cdedc (accessed 15.5.22))
On the roads, in spite of laws banning trikes on the National Highway, your journey will be held up by trikes looking for fares, criss crossing the road and suddenly stopping without use of indicators or brakes. Last night on the way back from Siscican in the rain I nearly drove into 3 trikes and two bikes weaving all over the road without any lights or indicators.
Banned Trikes on the National Highway in Puerto Princessa
Source - https://palawan-news.com/alternate-roads-to-be-identified-for-trike-ban-implementation-in-puerto-princesa/ accessed 1.6.23
The next thing I wish I knew before I moved here is
the extent of the brown outs ( power cuts or load shedding) and the poor
quality of the internet.
Before I arrived there was a massive Typhoon ( Odette
17.12.21) and at first we blamed the power cuts on that as a lot of cables were
bought down. But when they continue nearly 2 years later with little pre
warning or reason ( unless you daily
check the Power company Facebook page) . Added to that the power company then
increases their prices. When the power goes out the AC goes out and it’s a
tropically humid climate ( 32 degrees as I write this in a power cut) and the
internet- and often that does not come back as soon as the power does. If you
go out in a power cut many places will accept cash only as their POS equipment
goes down. Some restaurants cannot serve coffee ( electric coffee machines) and
my friends who are Chefs often tell me they loose valuable food if their
freezers are off too long. My neighbour bought a petrol driven generator and
had it installed in a cage ( anti theft device) and so whenever we had a brown
out we had the noise of his generator too until it broke down. A friend
suggested getting a solar power generator, and maybe I will next year.
An example of Globe at home prepaid Wi-Fi
There are a variety of internet providers and I went
for Globe at home but regularly this crashes, or is weak- especially for
uploading vlogs etc . PDLT has a good reputation but again often breaks down.
There is no postal service between UK and Philippines so we are totally reliant
on the internet for communication.
People coming to Palawan often ask which is the best mobile network to get a SIM card for- again this is problematic as the signal strength varies across the island and most businesses have two or three numbers ( SMART, GLOBE, DITO). Do not expect a fast response from anyone- especially Government departments and annoyingly hotels- best to call them direct.
One of 3 delis here I use on a regular basis
I will end up with a subject close to my heart- food! If you are a Philipino and eat Pinoy food like Rice and chicken ( manok) you can live on 500 pesos a day (£7) . However if you are a European and are used to Steak, Salmon, Cheeses, Smoked Salmon , Lamb etc it will cost you a lot more, and be a lot harder to find. Even simple ingredients like spinach will get you blank faces at SM Mall .My average weekly shopping will see Jhoanna and I visit the market ( Palengke) for cheap fresh food ( which will go off in 2 days) and NCC, Robinsons, the Sari Sari store, Puerto Deli and Deli Mart to find all the ingredients I want , which takes a long time and a lot of patience. The average weekly bill for food and cleaning materials and dog food is 10,000 Peso ( £150) for what Jhoanna gets and another 10,000 for the specialist food from the Delis. So my monthly food bill is around 70,000 peso or £1,000.
The nearest Condo to me at Bancao Bancao
Source: https://www.camella.com.ph/property/condo-in-puerto-princesa-palawan/
That's just food. The price of accommodation varies greatly to, as does the quality. Unless you are married to a Philipina you cannot buy land or a house, so either you rent or buy a condominium. Mostly the condos are out of town and full of other expats. Having had my own houses in the UK for over 20 years, the last of which I sold in 2004, and having lived in rented flats for another 6 years I know which I prefer!
My office ( where I write the blog, looking out on the street), Dining room ( I have 12 hand made wooden seats and two tables for when my friends visit) and lounge. There are also 3 toilets ( CR), 2 showers, car parking at the front and rear and 2 bedrooms and a large kitchen. My front room is bigger than most condos, boarding houses and apartments! However luxury comes at a price and I pay 25,000 a month to rent my house- whereas most Pinoys would pay 5,000 to rent a room in a boarding house. The two bedroom apartments behind me are 20,000 pesos a month.
My parking space at the front for one car and visiting motorbikes- the office is behind the glass doors windows providing front and rear access to the house
I enjoy my life here and keep busy doing the things I like , such as cooking , creating recipe books and calendars, writing blogs, editing videos, entertaining my friends, eating out, and discovering the beauty of Palawan.
As a result instead of the 45,000 peso a month suggested on the website I pay out around 200, 000 pesos a month. In my defence I started work at 16 years old, took out my first pension at 22 ( which covers the house and car rent ) and saved extensively , especially for my last 12 years where I worked in the Middle East. My brother invested that money wisely and now I can afford to live comfortably here without the need to work. My point is to do your research very carefully to come up with a realistic cash flow forecast of what you need to spend - before you even consider moving here. Then rent for your first year and tightly control and measure your ACTUAL expenditure- only then will you be able to decide if you can afford to live here the way you want and if you can put up with some of the minor annoyances I have described.
My new blinds for the office and dining area
Always keep it in perspective. Palawan is a beautiful Paradise with stunning scenery and beaches, wonderful people and food , great weather, great restaurants , and I would not live anywhere else. I have been visiting the Philippines since 2000 on vacation and probably covered more of the Philippines than many Pinoys ( Cebu, Bohol, Boracay, Baguio, Vigan , Manilla, Marikina, Villa Escudero and most of Palawan. ) I advise you to do the same!
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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