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    Paul (Old Dog New Tricks) Dumaguete in his latest vlog is seriously considering a change of scene. What surprises me is what took him so long? Regular power cuts, too many expats, no decent shopping malls (I don't rate Robinsons), no taxis, and a small town mentality - everyone knows what each other are doing; dare I mention the word tsismis. Would be interested to hear from other local expats from that area on their take.
One can't help thinking (politic to do so?) the other reasons he left out in his piece.

He and his wife liked Thailand very much. I live in Dumaguete and can verify the regular power cuts; that part will never change until noreco II goes private and owners expect it to make money, something that is hindered by power cuts. "Too many the expats"...I have heard that before and I wonder where those people (the complainers) ive. I am happy to see other than expats. I really don't see that many here but they have a presence, certainly not as much as Pattaya or Chiang Mei Thailand. How often do you need to go to malls! You can drive to Cebu for that, say 3-4 times per year. Small town mentality, well, it is a small town compared to Manila, Davao or Cebu and that's just the way it is in small towns everywhere. I did see part of his video but didn't watch the whole thing because he appeared to have burn out and all-consuming boredom. It was not positive like most of his other videos but we all have our bad days...those are not the best times to release YouTube vlog videos.

@danfinn

With respect Dan its not everyones ’cup of tea’ as we Brits say to live the hermit life as you do on Siquijor where I stayed a year ago and toured the island on a bike.

Stunningly beautiful and I can understand thats why you make it your home.

If I was to live in Dumaguete I would rent a place in Bacong or maybe Dauin where my neighbour has a house. But I enjoy going to restaurants and the café lifestyle. Ironically I’m not a particularly gregarious person. Happy with my own company to a point and enjoy watching life from the sidelines.

First visited Dumaguete in 2005 and in my humble opinion the place has gone downhill ever since.

I guess it’s all relative though. Am writing this in CDO - what a dump.

    @danfinn
With respect Dan its not everyones ’cup of tea’ as we Brits say to live the hermit life as you do on Siquijor where I stayed a year ago and toured the island on a bike.

Stunningly beautiful and I can understand thats why you make it your home.

If I was to live in Dumaguete I would rent a place in Bacong or maybe Dauin where my neighbour has a house. But I enjoy going to restaurants and the café lifestyle. Ironically I’m not a particularly gregarious person. Happy with my own company to a point and enjoy watching life from the sidelines.

First visited Dumaguete in 2005 and in my humble opinion the place has gone downhill ever since.

I guess it’s all relative though. Am writing this in CDO - what a dump.
    ef

    -@Lotus Eater

I just wanted to make a small correction: We own 2 houses, one in Siquijor and one in Valencia on the Dumaguete Boundary. Originally we tried to split our time 50-50 but the pandemic made travel between provinces very difficult so we had to choose a place and we chose Dumaguete. After the pandemic we resumed travel but now I would say we are 80-20, the 80 being Dumaguete. I think Paul and I arrived here at about the same time.He always seemed positive about Dumaguete for what it was. I think that brought subscribers to his YouTube channel over the years. I can guarantee that being negative about where one lives will have the opposite effect.A ctually Paul lives in Valencia as well, far from the crowds and pollution. This place has many pro's for retirees but it also has cons like regular brownouts. It is natural to feel like he feels sometimes and maybe it is so overpowering  for him now that it is time for a change on his part. That is totally understandable. However, I do not wish to get caught up in self-doubt about my own decisions and I tend to avoid discussions like that.  And, for all of the 7 years I have been here I have only seen DGTE improve with new and better restaurants and the pantawan on the Seaside. It all depends; many of expats here would never move to a larger city like Cebu.

Lotus Eater - You got that right about CDO. Been there 3 times and never really liked it. Only my opinion.

@Cherryann01

Was that because the supermarkets didn't stock your favourite washing powder?

I found parts of it looked like a dumping ground including all the waste in the river and it was not very clean overall.

A bit like Bradford really.

@Cherryann01 You can find places in every country that look like dumping grounds. I currently live in a beautiful coastal city on the West Coast of the USA and I can take you to areas here that you could describe like that. And today there are warnings issued for contamination of water due to excessive storm runoff that has overwhelmed the wastewater system.  Yeah, unfortunately, the Philippines has a lot of areas like that but overall the Country has a lot to offer.

As far as the Philippines goes, I think Dumaguete strikes a nice balance between small town and big town. Not so congested most of the time, but there are a lot of amenities - universities, decent medical/dental, restaurants, and most things available in the stores. Not like the province. We also live in Valencia so it is even more removed from traffic and congestion, and a bit cooler. Tons of nature here - waterfalls, lakes, hiking, etc. Even the town is heavily forested as it is on the side of a volcano.

That said, it is still the Philippines, for better or worse. They burn a lot here and it is noisy at times. We decided to get away for a few days and just got back from a scooter trip to the other side of Negros, where we stayed in a boutique resort on the ocean. It was only 8 rooms, gorgeous views, clean and with excellent food - run by a hard-working German guy and his Filipino wife.

As it goes, the first night we were there was the last night of the local town festival, a small village about a half km away. They had live rave-type music that went until 5AM (!)  and it was loud.. in fact at 3AM it got louder. I struggled to sleep, along with others I'm sure, and our resort owner was not happy. He had actually been down there at 3am arguing with them, to no avail. Fortunately the next night was quiet.

But the point is - no matter how hard you try or how much you spend.. no matter where you go.. it is still the Philippines.. people do as they want without consequences.

I will never sell my US home.

   

But the point is - no matter how hard you try or how much you spend.. no matter where you go.. it is still the Philippines.. people do as they want without consequences.

I will never sell my US home.
   

    -@pnwcyclist

Ditto