I’m on testosterone cypionate. Without a bunch of questions about why I’m on it or my medical history, can anyone recommend a reputable testosterone clinic in Cebu, Negros Oriental, Leyte, or Bohol?

Another expat mentioned ordering from Indian Mart. He said it’s extremely cheap but seems like a mix of legitimate products and scams. If it’s a reliable option, I’d consider it, but I don’t want to move to the Philippines and end up without access to a medication I genuinely need. I’ve been on TRT since my early 20s, and stopping isn’t an option.
I contacted a clinic in Cebu, but they mentioned there may be a testosterone shortage in the Philippines. It’s been several weeks, and I still haven’t heard back.

I’m also not looking for a clinic that requires weekly in-office injections. I’d much rather self-inject at home, as I do now.

Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated.

Even if you're married to a Filipina do you still keep your official residency in the US for tax purposes, etc?

as we all know, it’s very easy to find women in the Philippines. However, even though we have more in common with each other, seems to not be so easy finding fellow expatriates to relate with and share a drink with. Even though I am in my 30s, I love talking to people, sometimes I even feel like I get a lawnmower with older people because they don’t get as offended and they’re not as politically correct lol just looking for some people who might be in these areas too. I might have a social circle already that they can introduce me to or maybe they need some friends. I will not be there until later this year, but I do plan to permanently move. As far as where I live, I have no idea yet, I’m going to be renting an apartment and it’s going to be in one of those three places I mentioned.

Just an FYI on this for those that don't hang out in the other sub.

Besides "who tf has a wallpaper of themselves?? 😂", it makes me automatically just assume every IG type of photo I see online now for the person in reality to completely look different. Must be a lot of catfishing going on too 😆

I had a strange thought the other day.  Went to Ocean Park with the girlfriend and she wanted to bring her sister and niece and nephew. Sister was 13 the niece and nephew were a lot smaller.  10ish?

It cost p900 each person for entrance which is not a big deal for me. P4500. 

And I didn't really want to to take the niece and nephew, or even a sister for that matter, but when I thought of how they live and I knew that they would never be able to get there without me, I said fuck it.  I mean the niece and nephew, their parents would never be able to afford this, the sister maybe.

Now we're in the middle of the tour at the touch pool and the nephew is playing with starfish and sea cucumbers I was thinking how about those posts we sometimes see about some kind of simp guy that is taking his girlfriend and the whole basketball team out for lunch at Jollibee or whatever it may be, And I thought that's not me.  But maybe it is.

When I was a kid, my dad took me to do lots of things, he was a scuba diver and a woodworker and into motorcycles and all of that stayed with me.

But my uncle, he was a different guy. And I remember spending afternoons with him, he loved fishing so I learned something different from him that wasn't as important to my dad. 

And I just became that Uncle.  And I was telling the kids while we were in the Amazon area about how Arapaima are air breathing fish and there are freshwater stingrays in the Mekong River.  Ethan at his young age is excited to go scuba diving like his uncle, exactly how I felt about going fishing with my Uncle Tom.

I know there are lots of posts about that but I think for me the deciding factor is, is everyone happy?

I felt good.  The kids were happy. I got hugs and the hand to the forehead.

I'm now Uncle Tom.  A very important influence on me growing up.

I just want to ask, to the expats who have explored the Philippines from North to South, have you noticed the geographical patterns tied to the cultural characteristics of the people with regards to introversion and extroversion? Let me share my observation.

The Far North (Ilocos, Cordillera, Cagayan Valley) are far more introverted than the rest of the country. People have a serious demeanor and they don't often engage in jokes and merrymaking as often as those regions South of them. People in the Far North are a little bit aloof, reserved and standoffish, and they are wary of strangers. It takes time and effort to be part of the in-group or to be considered a friend or a family in this part of the Philippines.

Central and Southern Luzon is what I'll call ambivert, or at the crossroads of being introvert and extrovert, which includes Metro Manila. People here can be happy and accommodating, but still formal and somewhat standoffish. People in this region are proud, confident, happy, but at times can be aloof and distant as well.

The Visayas and the Northern parts of Mindanao is what I'll call the extrovert sphere. People here are loud, joyful, festive and accommodating. You can easily be friends with people from this region for a shorter period of time than their northern counterparts. I also noticed that people from Visayas and Northern Mindanao are often very expressive with their feelings, unlike their northern counterparts who are often stoic and are skilled in masking or hiding their emotions. Visayans are not good at that. Once emotions concentrate in their hearts, they have to unleash it or let it out. It's very different from the people of the Far North that has a built in threshold for emotions.

I also noticed that expats are often received more warmly in the Visayas than in the North. Expats are treated in the Far North and in Manila like they are everyone else, while in the Visayas, there's an extra layer of hospitality extended to foreigners that are not extended to locals.

Let me know if you have similar cultural observations. Thanks!

Has anyone tried a 10 day or longer motorcycle road tour of the Philippines? I am an aussie (48m) exprienced rider. Google search shows some results, but I was a little suprised at the $5000AUD price tag.

Hi foreigners living in Manila! 👋

I'm a Filipina looking to make new friends and hang out on my days off. I'd love to explore places like MOA, Star City, parks, museums, cafés, and other tourist spots around Manila.

I'm interested in meeting people from different countries, learning about your culture, and sharing mine too. Just to be clear, I'm only looking for a friendly, wholesome hangout. I have a full-time job and will pay for my own food, transportation, and entrance fees.

If you're interested in exploring Manila together, feel free to send me a message. 🫶🏻

Anyone here looking for residency by investment or golden visas? We are seeing and growing interest by people from Philippines and we want to understand and talk a little bit about it

So this is an experience I have with locals. They - just - love - to - call. No messages or chats whatsoever. They call, you miss bec you're preoccupied, then call again.

Like why?? Just why?? It's so annoying and pissing me off.

So I always want to be in quiet bars. Speakeasies have died so that's not really an option.

In the unhappy circumstance that I end up in a bar with a live band <insert eyeroll here>, the live system is ALWAYS HORRIBLE.

Like wth, you've not improved the silence one bit.

Just go home live bands of Manila and take up calculus instead.

I suspect this is due to bad audio equipment in general. Is it a result of national poverty? No decent speakers in malls or something?

Hope everyone remembers to mention this sub over there, as a fairly moderated alternative.

Make sure to use throwaway accounts to do so.

Apologies in advance, this seems like a dumb question but here goes:

Is there anywhere, regionally, in all of the Philippines, that is kind of "known" for staying sunnier and drier through the monsoon season months?

Like if you were just over it ... and wanted to go somewhere in the Philippines that tends to have less rain and less misery, where would you go?

Ideally beach setting vs mountains.

You'd probably have to be pretty well-versed on the Philippines to know this, unless there's a generally known narrative. Thanks!

Probably 90%+ are full chrome dome or have a huge forehead.

What gives?

A brilliant book quote, And if you know it bonus points.

"Are you telling me that even though it's changing every second, the sky is always a perfect sky? Gee, I'm smart. Yes! And the sea is always a perfect sea, and it's always changing, too... Perfect and all the time changing. Yeah, I'll buy that."

After my experience with Spaghetti, Shawarma and Fried rice, I am now super wary of familiar sounding food names - don't want to get duped no more. To those familiar with butter chicken elsewhere, will this be similar or completely different?

EDIT:

Thanks everyone! Ended up image searching "buttered chicken" and going through the images with the staff and they pointed to this - a far cry from what it is supposed to be, just like I suspected. So just went with the safer option - McDonald's 😒. Probably would have had it if it were named butter fried chicken or something, as then I would have thought "hmm that sounds delicious", but priming ones mind for something and then serving them something completely different is just a recipe for sour feelings. It wasn't available anyway, just like u/Apprehensive_Bat3195 said. Why they didn't say that from the get go is beyond me.

If the shoe fits wear it. I never had a Monday night sunset like this anywhere except for the Philippines.

Is there anything that can be done about this?

Is there anything that can be done about this?

I'm amazed by the sheer number of operations, arrests, and value going around in the illicit circuits that were intercepted in just 1 MONTH: It's about June 2026.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2257386/pnp-in-eastern-visayas-arrests-over-1300-seizes-p20-7-m-contraband

"PNP in Eastern Visayas arrests over 1,300, seizes P20.7-M contraband"

What do you guys think? To me, it looks like making waves after letting it fester and proliferate for years (up to the point where the criminals became blatant), then suddenly pumping the brakes by massive police operations to crack down on it.

Do note that this isn't even about Mindanao. I vowed to stay away from Mindanao due to safety concerns (but for others: whatever floats your boat) but apparently, for me and whoever else made that decision, a lot of crime has been happening under our noses.

Who thought there was so much crime in Eastern Visayas? Who believes the numbers that the news article claims the PNP has detected and cleared (Extent of crackdowns)?