I only visited for three days so maybe it’s not a fair picture – but it seemed like every place I went, I was being asked for my life’s history. What type of work I did – was I married – did I have kids – how much money I made, etc. After being stunned and tongued-tied the first few times – I started making stuff up.

Having grown up and lived in a large city all my life, where you really didn’t know the people living in the next apartment, I’m not sure I like the ‘Filipino Way’. It was sure different.

Bob – USA – New York City

Several years ago some of our friends from home retired in the Philippines. Now it’s my turn. Cebu is a big city. There’s lots of things to do. Although prices were reasonable – I was told that it’s higher priced then many other areas in the Philippines – but I don’t know that.

What I didn’t like at all was the pollution. It was horrible. You see people walking round with handkerchiefs tied over their faces. It reminded me of Tokyo years ago before they clamped down on auto exhausts and industry. I would never live anywhere near that city.

Peter – ENGLAND – London Area

We’re going to be retiring in the next two years and we are seriously considering moving to the Philippines (simply because we can’t afford to stay in the States).

It was our first visit to Cagayon de Oro and we liked the small city a LOT. It’s got good medical facilities, good shopping, a variety of nice restaurants and live music and all that.

We also liked what CDO didn’t have – lots of pollution, congestion and crime.

We stayed for a few days in a nice hotel out on the national highway. It had a pool and restaurant.

But next year we’re planning to come back and stay for a month - and get serious about exploring/identifying a CDO area we might like to live in later.

For that month-long visit we’ll try to get reservations in a ‘Foreigner-Friendly’ furnished home. We like the idea of more space – room for guests and more privacy.

And because we’ll be in an actual Philippines local neighborhood, we’ll get a better idea of what it’s like to actually live there.

Bill and Jane – USA - Boston Area

This was my first visit to the Philippines. I’m a single guy – almost retired – divorced with grown kids – and probably going to be asked to take ‘early retirement’.

What I liked about Cagayon de Oro was the laid-back atmosphere. Everyone was so pleasant to me.  And what I really liked was that no one (including women) treated me like an ‘old (59) guy’ – I was just a normal person.

Mike – USA – So Cal Area