Driving in Angeles City

When I first arrived in Angeles City and I saw the driving situation I immediately decided that I would never drive here. Driving is not perfect in North America and there is a fair amount of road rage but some attempt is made to control the flow of traffic and enforce the traffic laws. Here it is general chaos until you get used to it.
There are few traffic lights, stop signs and directional signage so you are pretty well on your own. Driving practices range from defensive driving, outright offensive driving and blind driving.

After about three months of using trikes, jeepneys and taxis I convinced myself to rent a small motorcycle to facilitate getting around. I had never driven a motorcycle before and I will never again. During the short two weeks with a motorcycle I was involved in two accidents, both of which left me with scars, bruises as well as long term pain. In both cases my total lack of coordination on a motorcycle were to blame. Back to traveling by trikes, jeepneys or by foot. I must mention that there are many foreigners who drive motorcycles and they seem to blend right in with the locals.

One year later I moved to a gated community located away from Fields, the restaurants and the SM Mall. By necessity I reconsidered driving. This time I bought an old "owner type jeep" that looks more like a tank than a jeep. Well I have been driving this vehicle for over two years and I am quite confident driving in the general chaos that exists here. When in Rome do as the Romans and you can survive. Once you have an idea of what others are doing it is doable. I still have a few problems with the motorcycles passing on the right and on sidewalks, the lack of working headlights, brake lights and signal lights on vehicles, the jeepneys stopping anywhere they feel like it, the pedestrians who don't look before they cross the street, the kids playing everywhere and anywhere, the drunk drivers, the people walking in the middle of the road, the dangerous passing practices, the non respect of the few stop signs, and those traffic police officers who like to pick on foreigners.  As you can see I have adapted well. I even have an almost perfect driving record. As long as you are a calm driver you will do ok. Good luck to future drivers.

Living in Angeles City

Angeles City in the eyes of a North American.

I am a Canadian who has been living in Angeles City for almost 4 years.
My goal is to write posts concerning all aspects of Angeles, Balibago, Pampanga and/or the Philippines in general.

After visiting many other areas of the Philippines my choice has been to remain in Angeles City although I do have a preference for Cebu. 

Life in the Philippines is quite different from living in Canada or the United States and it can take some time to get used to the culture and traditions that exist in the Philippines. Fortunately almost everyone speaks some English and most businesses advertise in English. There are several dialects in the Philippines and although I have tried to learn some Tagalog I have not been too successful at it, probably because I can get by with English, I'm lazy or too old to learn! But if you want to communicate freely and understand what Filipinos are saying learning their language is certainly an asset and is sure to please. 

How I ended up in Angeles City

Any comments, opinions or positions I express are mine and reflect my preferences, tastes, attitude, moral standards, etc. 

I am a Canadian senior citizen who decided to come to the Philippines, more specifically to Angeles City, Pampanga in January 2007.

After a 30 year marriage that ended up in a costly divorce (1/2 of my 28 year government pension) I gave up on my well paying computer job at 59. Sound familiar?

I soon realized that living on a meager pension was next to impossible in Canada unless I stayed in a cheap dingy room, used my legs or a bicycle for transportation (really not a bad healthy idea), shared a washroom with other guys in my situation, bought clothes at Salvation Army and drank cheap alcohol. Oh ya let's not forget I have a vice, smoking cigarettes. That expense alone at almost $10.00 a pack in Canada would have me going bankrupt in no time. Ya ya ya I know smoking is bad for me but I have been smoking since the age of 16 when it was cool to do so. Today smoking is anti social but thank God it is common here in the Philippines. In the last 10 years I have had three heart attacks where smoking was a factor but I'm hard headed and have not quit yet, we all die some day, it is part of living after all and I enjoy it!

Before retiring and starting a new life as a man with limited financial resources I spent a lot of time searching the Internet for topics like cheapest places on earth to live. My research produced the following results in no specific order. I only mention those places that interested me most. There are many other countries in South America, Caribbeans, etc. but my choices were Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Since the Dominican Republic was closest to Canada I spent my holidays there the last 3 years that I worked. I met many expatriates while visiting who educated me on living in the Dominican. I certainly liked the women there, the beaches and the Dominican atmosphere in general. Countries where poverty reigns warrant that you have eyes in the back of your head and know the local scams and criminal activity, but like any other country in the world if you remain vigilant you have a better chance to avoid problems. There are areas in Canada that you would not want to find yourself in at 3AM!

The Dominican as a place to live was very tempting. However I found that many expats I spoke to had a hell of a lot more cash than I did, were driving expensive SUVs and living in extraordinary mansions or at least very decent homes. I also discovered that finding an apartment with full time electricity was extremely difficult unless you are ready to pay premium rental costs equal or superior to Canadian rents in some cases. Nope this place was not for me, it is close to Canada, that was a great advantage for health reasons and to be closer to my three adult children but I felt that my limited resources would not be sufficient to live a "normal" life here. I have to say that I met expats in Dominican who survive with less cash than I receive. They live on farms or in cockroach infested shacks, use outside toilette, eat rice and beans everyday but I must admit some of them are very happy with their life and surroundings. However I could not picture myself without certain basic necessities and some luxuries even little ones.


By November 2006, just before retiring my priority was to find a cheap place to live other than the Dominican. At that time having been divorced for many years I also had an urge to party and fulfill fantasies that I had carried within me for many years. When I started looking at all the information about Angeles City, Philippines I could hardly believe all the articles and internet sites dealing with Angeles City nightlife and the potential excitement of being in a place like that. Not that I am a big party goer but I wanted to experience the Philippines as a potential place to stay so what the hell I had some extra money from retiring and decided let's go.

Now I was really excited, my first time overseas and I was heading towards the other end of the world. I was fortunate because two friends who had heard me talking about the Philippines decided they would also travel with me for a vacation in Angeles City. 

From Canada it is an extremely long flight if you book the cheapest flights. I was going Ottawa to Detroit to Saint Paul then crossing Canada via the north to Japan. There are smoother more expensive flights. To make things worsts we had to stay overnight in St.Paul due to aircraft problems delaying us by almost 24 hours.

When we finally arrived in Manila we faced a problem. The driver that was supposed to meet us from our hotel in Angeles was no where to be found. Borrowing a cell phone from a nice gentleman we managed to reach the driver. He told us that we were 24 hours late and that he had been there the night before to pick us up. Strange we had contacted the hotel from St.Paul and informed them of our delay. Oh well time to go to the taxi stand and negotiate. At 2am we are on our way to Angeles. We arrived at the hotel just past 330am. Left our bags in the room and out we went exploring Fields. Many bars were closed but several were opened. The bars, the girls, it was party time for a full month. None of us could believe all the excitement in Angeles even after reading all about it on the Internet, it all sounded too good to be true but it's mostly all true.


After their vacation my friends returned to Canada and I decided that Angeles City was going to be my new home. I had many things to get used to here but I was willing to adapt because I could afford to live reasonably well with my limited pension. Almost 4 years have gone by and I'm still here. I have a common law wife now and we love each other deeply, live in a secure decent apartment and I am happy to be here. Coming here was probably the best decision in my life.  Of course it's not always paradise but I enjoy the Philippines and most of all I can still  have the little luxuries that I needed.


and that's it!

 

Margarita Station - one of my favorite places

When I arrived in Angeles City, Balibago, Pampanga province early January 2007 most of my time was spent in the bars doing what almost every male tourist and some long term residents do in this city.

My days and nights were devoted to one activity, visiting the numerous bars and meeting their female occupants. At that time I thought Angeles City was Fields or is it Field Avenue and never realized that downtown Angeles was in another area of the city. I did get to visit Clark SM Mall though as it's a favorite spot of many Filipina. During that period of time I occasionally went to Margarita Station, mainly to have a meal in the company of some Filipina met in a bar. Margarita is opened 24 hours a day so it is possible to get a meal or a drink at anytime day or night. I am a difficult eater but I can always find something I like at a reasonable price. There are cheaper restaurants but as I stated I am a difficult eater and honestly not a great fan of Filipino foods in general.

With time I grew older, wiser and reduced the alcohol intake to improve my health. Slowly I moved from the bar scene to other activities such as working on websites, having a more normal life with my Filipina spouse and finding other places to visit and do within Pampanga. I also took time to travel to Subic, Cebu, Davao, Manila and Masbate, the city where my spouse was raised.

Margarita Station is located on Fields avenue and is easily accessible. There is controlled limited parking in front of the restaurant. Their restaurant and bar menu is quite exhaustive and offers Filipino, Thai, Mexican, Chinese, and American dishes as well as a variety of beers and alcoholic beverages. The first "Coors Light" that I was able to find in Angeles City was in their establishment. I simply hate San Miguel beer the most popular beer in the Philippines and sometimes I think I am the only one who does.

The food servings are huge but they will serve 1/2 servings on some meals (the option is listed in the menu) which is convenient if you are like me and can never finish a full plate.

 
I can always find something to eat here. You can play pool, participate in special events, watch the girls go by or my favorite now, meet other expats, foreign tourists in town for a short visit or even make Filipino friends.

The management and staff are friendly. For a few years I have considered one of their managers "Mario" as a friend. He is from Canada, speaks french and english and is a wealthy source of information. My only beef with Margarita Station is that they recently discontinued their monthly newsletter which I was always looking forward to receiving because it was an excellent source of information on past month incidents whether they were good or bad. I do however understand the work involved in the production of such a newsletter and the time factor involved. As a remembrance here is the link to the last Margarita Newsletter I received.

Going to APO Market

One place I like to go to from time to time is the APO market in Angeles City proper. The place is like a large flea market. Plan to get there between 7-8am as it gets too crowded to my liking after that time. I like to be out of there at the latest 930am. It is opened only on Fridays but there are lots of bargains to be had. Of course the old saying “you get what you pay for” remains true. However sometimes you do find items of better quality at decent prices. You can usually find anything and everything ranging from clothes, plants, CD and almost anything else you can imagine. Anytime I went there on a mission to find something I needed or wanted I always found what I was looking for.

While in the market area remain vigilant for pickpockets, expect to be canvassed by beggars and to get pushed by the crowds especially later morning. You can usually negotiate prices or haggle with the sellers. Because foreigners are all considered rich some sellers may try and charge more when prices are not already indicated on items that may interest you. I let my Filipina spouse do the buying and the haggling.

The market itself is located near the Apo Chapel, because the market commemorates Apo Day, part of the Apo Fiesta held every October. This is a religious event. You can get to the market via jeepney on route to Henson road or by trike if you want to pay more. Forget taxis here they charge unbelievable fares unlike what you find in Cebu and other areas of the Philippines. If you travel by jeepney always watch your pockets although I admit I have never had a problem. Some friends have had wallets, cell phones, ipod players and the like snatched from them in a flash with the thief jumping out of the jeepney and running away before they even realized what is happening, so play safe.