Manila - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
Traffic and crowds. Be ready for the worst in the world. Filipinos move at Filipino speed. You will never get anything done quickly. - Apr 2024
I wish I knew how hot it was going to be. I hate the heat ( but it wouldn't have stopped me from coming) - Mar 2023
I found most info available publicly gave me a good idea of what I was getting into. - Mar 2023
The food quality can often be very poor and unhealthy (but is fine when you know where to eat and shop). There are some seriously sleazy expats if you go to the wrong places (don't worry, you won't really see them outside of them). - May 2022
THat even though it appears very western, the mindset is not western at all. Years of oppression seems to have created a very fearful local population, unwilling to take risk. We say it is like an onion. You peel back the first layer of shiny skin, to reveal something entirely different. - Apr 2021
You can never really imagine how bad the traffic is until you plan a 15-minute trip that turns into three hours in which you accidentally find yourself having to wait another hour until you can turn around. I knew the traffic would be bad, but don't try to meet it head on, it will crush you. Avoid it. Anticipate it. Prepare for it. Outsmart it. - Oct 2020
I wish I had a live-in driver...again I hate the traffic and feel trapped when my driver is not around (I can drive here, I JUST CAN'T find parking all of the time and it's frustrating). - Feb 2020
The importance of geography. Traffic ranges from “a drag†to “soul-crushing,†and it makes it really difficult to get anywhere. We’ve made a lot of good friends here, but most of them live within walking distance of our apartment. BGC and Makati are only a mile or two apart, yet traveling from one to the other can take 1-2 hours in bad traffic. For the same reason, there aren’t a lot of easy day trips around Manila (other than Corregidor), because a 10-15 mile trip up the road could turn into an hours-long odyssey. - Feb 2017
The traffic is truly appalling, and gets worse by the month. - Jul 2016
How much of an effect the traffic has on your accessibility to social things. On a map things appear close, but travel time is horrendous. The people are nice, but there can still be a feeling of being an outsider even if you work on the local economy. the beaches really are AMAZING - Jan 2016
The traffic and disparate neighborhoods cause the quality of life in Manila to be quite poor. - Jan 2016
Clubs - Sep 2015
That traffic is sometimes a huge impediment to exploration. - Aug 2015
I don't know. I don't think there were any surprises. - Aug 2015
Mountains are very hard to get to. Hiking and parks are fairly non-existent. - Sep 2014
How terrible the air quality is throughout any city or large town. - Jan 2014
The Embassy is large, but is best suited for families or married couples. - Dec 2013
